


Patch Day

by drunkenpandaren



Category: Ben 10 Series, Final Fantasy XIV, Ghostbusters (Comics), Kamen Rider Den-O, Kamen Rider Ex-Aid, My Little Pony: Equestria Girls, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Stargate SG-1, World of Warcraft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-11
Updated: 2018-06-03
Packaged: 2018-11-12 18:08:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 29,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11167251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/drunkenpandaren/pseuds/drunkenpandaren
Summary: Starlight Glimmer's efforts to change the present affected the past in many ways, and changed not just Twilight's present, but everypony else in this alternate glimpse into another timeline.





	1. Variations 1: The Doctor Called Genius Gamer M

Ponyville, 16 years ago…

Flashes of light, was all Fluttershy could see as she drifted in and out of consciousness. The sounds of beeping could be heard in the background, soft and muted. “She’s coming around,” said a voice, unfamiliar to her.

“Not yet, we need to put her under some more. Hurry, quick!”

Strong hooves kept Fluttershy down, and she started to groggily move. But a soft female voice cut through the haze. “Don’t worry,” said the doctor. “I will save you.”

With that, Fluttershy let go, and drifted back into slumber.

Hours later, Fluttershy woke to the concerned expressions of her parents, and her younger brother Zephyr Breeze who was trying not to chew through a rawhide strap in worry. “What… happened?” whispered Fluttershy.

“Oh my dear girl,” said Mrs. Shy, brushing a lock of pink hair away from Fluttershy’s face. “I’m so sorry…”

“We didn’t realize an accident would happen at flight camp,” said Mr. Shy, looking upset and ashamed at himself.

“N-no, it’s okay, really…” Fluttershy tried to move but she winced. Surprisingly, Zephyr Breeze held her hoof, to keep her from trying to move.

“Don’t move sis, you had a bad fall. You almost lost your life there.” He said softly.

The door opened at that moment, and a older mare stepped into view, wearing a doctor’s jacket. She was consulting a clipboard before hanging it onto her bed. She smiled for a moment at Fluttershy who tried to smile back through the ache of her body. “You’re very lucky, you had a friend who noticed you were missing.” said Redheart, moving to her bedside. “How do you feel?”

“Tired…” said Fluttershy. “And I hurt.”

“Don’t worry,” said Redheart, holding out a small portable game device and placing it next to her. “Doctors are here to make sure you smile again.”

Fluttershy looked down at the device, and Redheart smiled before adding, “You’ll clear the game, with no continues.”

=====

Patch Day

=====

16 years later…

=====

Doctor Fluttershy stepped into the room with a calming smile for her patient, as she checked her chart. “How are you feeling today, Snips?”

“Better than usual, doc,” replied Snips, the young foal said as he sat on the bench next to the examination table. “That workout you prescribed is really working out!”

Fluttershy smiled widely as she gestured for him to get onto the scale. “I see that,” said Fluttershy as she checked his weight. “Down two pounds. Just three more to go and you’ll be in top shape for your body mass.”

“I couldn’t have done it without you doc,” said Snips with a wide grin on his face.

Fluttershy went over to the candy bin and fished out a sugar free snack and offered it to Snips. “Now remember to continue your exercise, and you’ll be fine. Remember, three laps every day around the schoolyard before classes. And three afterwards.”

“Thanks doc! You’re a lifesaver!” Snips took his treat and with a wave, added, “See you later doc!”

Giving Snips a wave, Fluttershy checked her appointments and frowned for a moment before walking out to the lobby. “Nurse First Aid? Where’s all my appointments?”

“Ah, about that.” said First Aid. “It seems the new doctor is coming in from Canterlot today and I was hoping you could show her around.”

“Oh, well it’s not that much trouble. Who is it?” asked Fluttershy curiously.

“It’s that new popular surgeon from Canterlot. You know, the mare that everypony is talking about for saving several lives with her skill in medicine?” said First Aid.

“Oh.” Fluttershy sighed. “I wonder why she’s transferring over here? Is Canterlot General not good enough for her?”

“It seems like she was recommended by the Ministry of Health. We’ve been missing a surgeon for a long time now.” said First Aid. “All of our emergency cases are flown to Canterlot General for treatment.”

“I know. I just want to make sure our new doctor will fit in here.” said Fluttershy. “What’s her name again?”

 

“Doctor Twilight Sparkle.” said First Aid, reading off the clipboard. “She’ll be arriving today around 13:00. Why don’t you go greet her?”

“I should actually. Thanks First Aid. Can you hold down the office till we’re done?” said Fluttershy.

“Of course. Take your time, Doctor.”

=====

The outdoors always had a pleasant feeling to them, reflected Fluttershy as she walked along the pathway towards the center of the town where most arrivals from Canterlot migrated to. As she walked along, several ponies nodded and waved at her, and Fluttershy waved back for a moment as a raspy pitched voice called out to her. “Fluttershy!”

Looking up at the cloud, Rainbow Dash looked down at her with a weak smile. “Hey, what’s up?”

“Rainbow Dash! I didn’t think you’d be in town today,” said Fluttershy as the rainbow maned pegasus fluttered down to meet her. “It’s been a while.”

“Yeah it has,” said Rainbow awkwardly, blushing a little. “Sorry, I just got caught up in a lot of things. Rarity’s been really working me hard lately.”

“Your mane is teased again,” said Fluttershy, observing the mare’s mane which wasn’t straight or spiky, but rather swept into delicate curls. “I like it.”

“Well you know, Rainbow Dash always dresses in style,” chuckled Rainbow weakly. “Rarity’s a good boss after all. But she always gets on my case for dressing properly while working in the stores and on the runway.”

Fluttershy nodded. “I’m glad you met Rarity. Last I saw you, you were pretty down on yourself.”

“Well, when you flunk out of Wonderbolt Academy, there’s not much work for somepony like myself.” admitted Rainbow a bit sourly. “But that’s in the past.”

“So anyway, you would not believe who I met in Manehatten,” said Rainbow, trying to keep the conversation going. “Remember Applejack?”

“Vaguely.” Said Fluttershy. “I think I hadn’t moved down to Ponyville yet.”

“Ah right. She’s more Rarity’s friend. In any case, Rarity and I were working a charity function when Applejack showed up, her mane all teased and delicate, wearing this awesome dress. Rarity recognized her on the spot, and they got to talking. Seems like she’s been living in Manehatten as a socialite for most of her life, and she’s coming back to visit. She’ll be here with the next train in.” said Rainbow. “You should come see her. Rarity’s going to be there.”

“Well, if it isn’t much of an issue then I’ll come.” said Fluttershy. “But I’m also waiting for the new doctor to arrive.”

“Oh yeah, that super awesome surgeon from Canterlot.” said Rainbow Dash. “I heard of her. Aren’t you worried that she’ll take all of your patients?”

“I don’t think she will,” said Fluttershy, shaking her head. “I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

“Yeah, I guess so.” Rainbow wing-shrugged as she pointed with a wing towards a pink colored pony in the distance. “Oh hey, look who is in town, it’s Pinkie. She must be delivering a set of geodes to Rarity’s place.”

Fluttershy looked over at a spry young pony with a pink mane and pink hair, pulling a cart. She looked like she was humming, despite her drab appearance but she waved. “Rainbow Dash!” She called out. “And Doc! What’s up?”

“Oh not much, just waiting for friends to arrive.” said Rainbow Dash.

“Hello Pinkie,” said Fluttershy, smiling. “We’re just waiting for Applejack to come on the train, and Doctor Sparkle to arrive.”

“Oh that’s swell,” replied Pinkie as she unhooked her cart. “I was just delivering geodes as you can tell. Ma and Pa don’t mind it if I take time off the farm after all and since tomorrow’s the Summer Sun Celebration, I’m going to spend the night here in the Ponyville hotel.”

“That’s good,” said Fluttershy. “It’ll be nice to have you around.”

“Yeah. I mean, the stress of the day’s been pretty bad. Ponies have been running around, Rarity and I have been working overtime…” said Rainbow Dash.

“I get that feeling.” said Pinkie as she noticed a young filly across the way. “Hey, isn’t that Apple Bloom?”

Looking over, Fluttershy frowned for a moment at the way Apple Bloom was pulling the cart. Her steps were uneven as she suddenly toppled over. “Oh dear,” said Fluttershy, running over. “Apple Bloom?”

“Hey Doc,” groaned Apple Bloom. “Ah don’t feel so well…”

The girl suddenly gasped, and started balling up in pain as Fluttershy gently checked her over. “What’s going on?” asked Rainbow as the three observed a strange orange energy at the base of Apple Bloom’s neck. “What the hay…?”

“She’s sick,” said a new voice, and the three turned to see a lavender mare holding up a stethoscope in a glow of magic. Pressing a button, a readout appeared as she frowned. “Spike!”

“Right here, Twilight,” said a baby dragon, running over with a case. Opening it up, he produced a pair of devices, one neon green and the other a bright blue device.

“Stand aside, the operation needs to begin.” said Twilight as Fluttershy looked up in alarm as the dragon named Spike equipped the Gamer Driver onto her body.

“Operate? With that?” demanded Fluttershy as Twilight held up the device. “Who are you?”

“Doctor Twilight Sparkle.” Replied Twilight as she held up the blue device. On the side of it read “Taddle Quest” and she proclaimed, “Proceeding with Level 1.”

Pressing the button, a large graphic appeared behind her as chests materialized across the middle of the town center, startling ponies as Rainbow and Pinkie backed up in alarm. “A game?” said Pinkie.

Suddenly Apple Bloom shot to her hooves as she exclaimed, “Fool, to think you can separate a cook from its job?!”

Without warning, Apple Bloom transformed, growing huge into a large bulbous creature on two legs that towered over the ponies. “A monster?” exclaimed Rainbow Dash, gasping.

“That game is Taddle Quest, a sword and magic RPG,” said Fluttershy. “Why do you have an electronic version of it?”

“Transform,” said Twilight, ignoring Fluttershy as she plugged the game into the belt. [CLICK TO LOAD!] Announced the belt as Twilight selected her icon from the Player Select screen that appeared in front of her with a nudge of magic.

[Let’s Game! Super Game! Ultra Game! Whatcha Name?! I’M A KAMEN RIDER!]

Armor formed around the pony, and within seconds, the newcomer doctor was dressed in armor which made her look like a blocky pony, with oversized limbs. A sword materialized from a weapon select screen and she proclaimed, “Separating the Bugstar from the patient.”

The Bugster, as it was called, started to swing at the pony who dodged and blocked with the small shield she wore, as well as the weapon itself. [GASHACON SWORD!] Proclaimed the sword as she swung it, flames emitting from the weapon as she knocked the Bugster backwards.

“What is that thing?” demanded Fluttershy of Spike.

“That’s the Bugster Virus, a new deadly strain of techno-magical virus which only one equipped with a Gamer Driver can defeat,” said Spike, not taking his eyes off Twilight. “Doctor Twilight Sparkle is the only one who can fight this threat.”

“If you ask me, she looks like she needs some help,” said Pinkie as Twilight was knocked backwards.

“Impossible. Not just anyone can use these,” said Spike, showing off the device. “There’s training, tests, the compatibility surgery--hey!”

Fluttershy, without hesitation, grabbed a Gamer Driver and a pink gashat. “Stop, you can’t use that without the surgery!” Shouted Spike but Fluttershy was already in the field, running forward as she slapped on the device with a wing, and pressed the button with the other.

[MIGHTY ACTION X!]

“I’ll clear this with no continues! Transform!” Taking to the sky, Fluttershy transformed into a squat form with spiky hair as she came down on armored wings. She bounced off the Bugster, jumping and rebounding on its head three times before landing next to Twilight. “Doctor, let me help you.”

“I don’t really need it.” replied Twilight as the pair dodged the oversized Bugster. “You haven’t read the manual or learned how to operate.”

“I might not know how to operate,” said Fluttershy, dodging another strike. “But I am a doctor, and Apple Bloom is my responsibility as her family doctor!”

[GASHACON BREAKER!] A hammer materialized and she grasped it with a wing. Flying in, Fluttershy took a sharp right and smashed a brick as a large emblem was inside it. “And I do know video games. I spent my whole childhood playing them! Mighty Action X gains more power when you get more power ups!”

Armed with a strength up boost, Fluttershy slammed the weapon against the Bugster’s head, and it fell over with a crash, exploding into a million pieces as they hopped away. But moments later, the hopping virii transformed into squat pony-shaped minions, with a large four legged monster in a tall chef’s hat. “Salty!” Salty exclaimed, brandishing it’s cookware.

“Monsters!” Exclaimed Rainbow Dash, as she and Pinkie Pie backed up.

Twilight snorted. “There’s nothing I can’t cut. Proceeding with Level 2.”

Opening the belt’s lever, Twilight launched into the air as her belt sang out, her body undergoing a change as she shifted into a sleeker form, a second form pushing through a pair of doors which appeared.

[Level Up! Battle for your future, fight for the adventure! Welcome to Taddle Quest!] sang the belt as she landed, Gashacon Sword landing into her grasp.

“Proceeding with the Bugster Elimination,” said Twilight as she launched herself into the battle.

“Level Up, of course.” said Fluttershy as she reached up to where the belt was attached and she opened it up with a flourish. “Transformation Plus!”

[Level Up! Mighty Jump! Mighty Kick! Mighty Mighty Action X!]

Her own body undergoing the change, Fluttershy landed as she took the Gashacon Hammer in a wing, and tapped the A button. [Tadaaa!] Proclaimed the weapon, flipping it open as she ran in, slashing with either wing, spinning under the attacks.

Salty charged in, weapons crashing against Twilight’s Gashacon Sword as the pair fenced back and forth as Fluttershy rampaged through the minions. Twilight spared a glance and then pushed Salty backwards a few steps. “Not bad,” she allowed, removing the Taddle Quest weapon and throwing it into the belt loop device.

[Finishing Move!] Exclaimed the device as Twilight crouched low, her weapon crackling with flames. [TADDLE CRITICAL FINISH!]

Salty gasped and moved to run, but Twilight’s blade came down, cutting through the Bugster as the Game Clear was announced. Fluttershy finished with the rest of them in a second strike as the Level began to dissolve.

“Apple Bloom!” Exclaimed Fluttershy, deactivating the Driver and tossing it aside to care for her patient. “Are you okay?”

“Ah’ve been better. I feel awful but sorta refreshed,” grunted Apple Bloom as Fluttershy checked her over.

“Well you’ve got no injuries, thanks to Doctor Twilight’s work,” said Fluttershy as Spike retrieved the Gamer Driver and Mighty Action X Gashat. “But let’s get you to the hospital for a full check.”

Apple Bloom nodded as she was lifted onto Fluttershy’s back, and the pair headed off, with Pinkie and Rainbow Dash following behind.

“She cares more for the patient than beating the game,” said Spike to Twilight who snorted and deactivated her own Driver. “Twilight, shouldn’t we be reaching out to her? You know what’s going to happen if we don’t.”

“I don’t think I should,” said Twilight, her cold demeanor dropping for a moment. “I don’t want to burden her. Not with what I did to her.”

“Twilight…” said Spike as she headed off towards the nearby hotel. Moments later, a carriage touched down as a similar purple mare got off with Spike, but she was smaller, and wore a wide smile.

“I’m here,” said Doctor Twilight Sparkle, as she grinned happily. “I can’t wait to help everypony here!”

=====

SEE YOU NEXT GAME?


	2. Variations 2: IDW Crossovers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ray should really inform people sooner when he discovers a land of unicorns. IDW Ghostbusters/IDW MLP Comics

“Ray. Why is your head through the portal? Did Egon pay you twenty bucks again?”

Pulling his head out of the dimensional portal, Ray Stantz grinned. “No, but I found something that you wouldn’t believe!”

“Try me,” replied Peter Venkman as he walked over, coffee in mid sip.

“I found a land of unicorns!”

Peter paused in his sip. “Wait, what?”

“Look for yourself.” said Ray, as Peter took a glance. Through the portal was a very vivid world, brightly colored with small ponies who were literally looking at the glowing door back at them. “I was fostering first contact communications. It was a complete accident when I was tuning the machine but other than that…”

“Well, better log this one into the world list before the spooks start zooming through. Close the door, will you, Ray?”

Ray rolled his eyes before sticking his head through and saying, “Sorry, we’ll have to cut this short. Let your princess know I’m still on for tea tomorrow.”

“Let me guess,” said Peter once Ray had turned off the machine. “That was Manehatten,” he said, quoting the name with two fingers.

“How’d you know?” asked Ray.

“Lucky guess. I’m going to finish my coffee. Janine also said the interns are here.” replied Peter, walking back upstairs and tossing his spent coffee cup into the trash on the way up.

=====

“Who’s your friend, Ray?” asked Winston, a day later as he came down to deposit a ghost in a trap into the containment unit.

There, sitting across from Ray was a tall, statistique unicorn with wings, dressed in gold finery and a crown on her head. Not the oddest thing Winston had ever seen in his long years of service with the Ghostbusters. Winston, in his usual unflappable manner, went to deposit the ghost. “Ma’am.”

“Your friend is very polite,” said the winged unicorn, and Ray grinned sheepishly. The two of them had a tea set between them, and Ray nodded. “Hello, I’m Princess Celestia of Equestria.”

 

“Winston Zeddemore, nice to meet you ma’am.” said Winston. “You two having tea then?”

“To better facilitate talks between our people,” said Ray. “I kind of made myself human ambassador. Inadvertently.”

“It is not the first time that I have crossed worlds either,” added Celestia, taking a sip of tea from a glowing, levitating cup. “Nor will it be the last. I was surprised to hear that our Manehatten and your New York were connected however. But young Stantz explained it well.”

“She understood string theory and our multiple worlds seeding theory,” said Ray excitedly. “And they’ve yet to have a ghost problem, so it might be a New York untouched by the supernatural!”

“That’s great Ray. Well, I’ve got to get going. You two have a good tea time.” Winston chuckled as he walked upstairs. Who knew that Ray would have tea with a horse princess? Clearly no one told Ray what was impossible in the last three weeks. 

=====

“Fascinating,” said Egon, impolitely scanning Celestia during Ray’s teatime with her. Tea with the horse princess had become a common factor in the basement, and soon it moved upstairs to where a place was set out for lunch. Today, Celestia had come bearing gifts; sweet cupcakes from a local bakery. Janine had brought scones with her this time as well.

Celestia was at least very amused by these proceedings as Egon continued his scans, and Ray poured them more tea. Winston had joined them, along with Janine who was taking her break. “Her dimensional signature remains stable. How many trips into the dimensions have you taken?”

“About several hundred,” replied Celestia, offering Kylie a scone which she took from her place across the way, the table not big enough to seat more than four people at a time. Fortunately there were no impending crises as time went on, and the Ghostbusters were effectively On Call. “Starswirl the Bearded and I, we brought many technologies and medicines to our world.”

“Fascinating,” said Egon, placing a blinking cauldron on her head. “How many Elder Beings did you meet in that time?”

“Two. Fortunately they had no interest in travellers from beyond the mirrors,” said Celestia, enduring the tests with aplomb.

“Egon’s just trying to make sure that nothing from your world will pop over to ours,” said Winston. “The last visitors we had were other versions of ourselves, and the ones before that was a group of mutant turtles. Both brought their troubles with them.”

“Understandable. I would want to know if a threat to Equestria was at work, which is why I accepted Ray’s invitation for tea.”

“And trouble just finds itself in any world,” chimed in a smug voice as a form popped into view. There was a subtle ka-click of a proton thrower being primed but the rest of the body followed. A mismatched being of lion, eagle, and whatever else faded into view. “There you are, Celestia! I was wondering where you got off to.”

At that, Celestia fought the urge to roll her eyes as she introduced the mismatched being to the Ghostbusters. “Everyone, Discord. Discord, the Ghostbusters.”

“OOOOOOH!” Exclaimed Discord, zooming over and winding around Egon as he took Egon’s hair off and put it on his head, earning snickers from Peter across the room. “The famous Ghostbusters! I have heard of them, what multidimensional being like myself hasn’t? Discord, being of chaos, and all things fun. How’s it look?”

“Better on you than Egon!” called out Peter from across the way as Discord replaced Egon’s hair on his head.

“What brings you here, Discord?” asked Celestia.

“Oh not much. Just your guards are wondering when you’ll return, Twilight Sparkle, that precious former student of yours wants to visit as well, and of course, there’s the little matter of making sure Luna is up to date on your shenanigans,” said Discord, reading from a scroll unraveled from his arm. “Droll stuff, you know the drill.”

“Let Twilight and Luna know I will return at the appointed time,” said Celestia. “Our visit will take another half an hour, so we do not need to rush.”

“As far as we know,” said Peter as he took one of the cupcakes from the box.

“Oh pfffh,” snorted Discord. “There’s plenty of time for things to happen in 22 minutes!”

“I’m sure.” said Celestia dryly. “I’m sure Twilight can handle it.”

“Well if you say so!” Exclaimed Discord, fading away in a twist of reality.

“Interesting,” said Egon, having trained a scanning device on Discord. “He reads like nothing I’ve ever scanned before.”

“Class 6? 7? Elder God?” asked Ray.

“Pie over E equals bacon.” Said Egon, holding up the device which showed a cooking slab of bacon.

“That’s not a reading,” said Ray.

“It is for him,” said Egon, adjusting his glasses.

“Discord is a being of chaos. But even he now works to maintain harmony, as best as possible.” Celestia sipped her tea and added, “My scientists are constructing a stable portal on our end, to house the entrance. We should have results by tomorrow. Then, Ambassador Stantz can come visit with no worry of returning home.”

“I’ve already packed a kit.” said Ray excitedly. “What else should I bring?”

“Anything in case of trouble,” said Celestia. “Our world may be safe, but I am uncertain of what the rest of the world thinks about the portal in Manehatten.”

“Ah the public opinion,” said Peter, taking a drink of his coffee. “You’re a princess right? Can’t you get the public opinion swayed?”

“Only carefully,” replied Celestia. “In any case, I believe it is time for me to return.” Getting up, Celestia bowed politely as Ray got up.

“I’ll walk you to the portal.” he said as they left.

=====

“This is more candy colored than expected,” said Winston, having volunteered to go with Ray to keep him out of trouble.

The portal had thankfully appeared in a building owned by the pony government, and as security checked in his proton pack, Ray was like a kid in a candy store, scanning everything with glee.

“Mister Zeddemore and Stantz?” asked a pony in a suit of white and gold trimmed armor. “My name is Skyflare, and I’m here to escort you to the presidential suite. The princesses await.”

“Lead the way,” said Ray as the two Ghostbusters checked in their throwers with the guard who carefully placed them to the side in secure holding areas.

The elevator was a novelty ride, as it was one of those old style ones operated by lever. But soon, the two were standing at a large set of doors. Skyflare knocked on the door and another similar guard appeared at the door before opening it fully. “Your highnesses, the Ghostbusters.”

Along with Celestia who was wearing a smile on her face and her royal gold trim, was a dark pony in blue and black, her mane speckled with stars. A third royal pony stood there, tucking a book to the side as a small purple and green lizard or dragon, scurried away with it. The third princess was lavender, with dark eyes and hair. Unlike the two, she did not wear royal vestments, but was wearing a small crown on her head.

“Welcome Ray, Winston. May I introduce my sister Princess Luna…” The dark alicorn inclined her head in respect. “And my former student, Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

Princess Twilight smiled and bowed politely. Winston and Ray did the same. “It’s really nice to finally meet all of you in your world,” said Ray politely.

“Well, now that the ice is broken, what say we show you all around?” said Celestia. “Please, come.”

At the large rooftop exit, the men looked over the skyline and Ray whistled. “Look at that. The skylines similar, but there’s notable differences! The pony architecture aside, you can see where they decided to place a building in a different area.”

“The magic that runs through the ground in Manehatten affects the location buildings went up in the 1920s,” said Twilight, walking up next to Ray. “I’ve studied your geography and there’s similarities in placement, although the layout of the buildings remain different.”

“I can see the Firehouse from here, is that supposed to be it?” asked Winston, pointing down near the edge of the town.

“Indeed,” replied Luna, stepping up next to him. “Your firehouse sits on a vast network of interdimensional energy. And it is a similar connecting location to our world. While the flow of magic diverted it to this building, we have ascertained that both are strong thaumic energy flows interconnected together.”

“Ley Lines,” said Ray. “While the headquarters are similarly charged, there’s a connecting sequence to New York.”

“As for supernatural problems, Manehatten has its local stories of course. Nothing powerful yet, but there might be a need for Ghostbusters,” said Celestia. “I would not be remiss to allowing a team to study your equipment, and build their own.”

“It’s a lot to take in, but we’ve seen weirder.” said Winston. “We’ll do what we can, princesses. The Ghostbusters haven’t backed down from a challenge yet.”

“What’s at the firehouse anyhow?” asked Ray, curious. “Does it stand empty?”

“Currently it does.” said Luna. “We can move a team in there, and the portal generator as well.”

“I’d like to see it then,’ said Ray. “If you don’t mind.”


	3. Variation 3: Origin of Music

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> IDW tells a very different tale of how music came to be, and how the SIrens are in another world.

As the newly re-instated Princess of Friendship, Twilight had a realization that sometimes she needed to look at the other side of things. The events with Starlight Glimmer said as much, and as such, she was nose deep in books for the time being.

Paging through the worn tomes in the library that she had set up in the new castle, Twilight flipped through it irritably, the pages rustling with each and every flip. "Ugh," she groaned finally, putting the book aside instead of casting it into the hall in frustration. "There's nothing here about the Sirens other than what I already know!"

A rap at the door however caused her to look up, as a blue-maned head stuck its way in. "Yo!" Exclaimed Vinyl with a grin. "Spike around? He asked me to install this sweet turntable in the banquet hall."

"Oh, uh I think he's actually out at the moment but I can let you in," said Twilight, surprised that Vinyl Scratch of all ponies would just walk right in. Getting up, she headed over to the door to open it more fully. "How have you been doing, Vinyl?"

"Eh, same old," replied Vinyl as she turned to lug the turntable and speakers into the building. "Octy's been getting on my flank lately about being too loud in public."

"That's odd, considering the you in the other world didn't speak a word. Must be one of those weird differences," mused Twilight, getting a raised eyebrow from Vinyl.

"Different strokes," replied Vinyl easily. "She might be just into the groove all the time. Speaking of which, whatcha looking up? I saw a copy of music of the neighties fly by before I came in."

"It's nothing really, I'm just looking up some things on the Sirens," said Twilight as the pair moved the items into the banquet hall. "A recent incident got me thinking about other sides of the stories, and I needed to see what they were really like so many years ago."

"Pssh, the Sirens? Those cats were totally cutting edge. They're legends in the music circles," said Vinyl as she began hooking up the sound system.

"Really?" Exclaimed Twilight, eager to hear what Vinyl had to say. "What sort of things?"

"They pioneered about 80% of the modern music back during Star Swirls era," said Vinyl, sticking her head under the turntable. "Real music fans attribute all of that music to others, but the Sirens? Came first. There's a story among real music fans, that Star Swirl had a 30 day rockoff with them, creating all the music genres you know today. But Star Swirl, man, he was a piece of work that guy."

"What do you mean?" asked Twilight.

Vinyl popped her head back up. "What I mean, is that he was a sore loser. He couldn't beat the Sirens at their own game, so he exiled them to another world. No consequences for HIM at least."

"Really..." It made sense in a vague way. Celestia claimed that Star Swirl in his youth was never good with friends, and the only friend he had in his final days was Celestia. And even though the Sirens had gone out of their way to try and take Equestrian magic for themselves, it was almost like... self preservation. "So... do you think he was wrong to send the Sirens away?"

"Maybe," replied Vinyl, connecting wires. "On one hand, they were trying to feed on negative energy yanno? But on the other hand, Star Swirl's a bit of a jackass for being a bad sport and just using magic to get rid of them. Doesn't seem fair that they had to be sent away just because he didn't beat them."

Vinyl connected the last wire and dusted her hooves. "There we go. All good. Anything else you need, Twilight?"

"No, that's everything. You've given me plenty to think about. I'm sure Spike's going to appreciate it too. Thank you, Vinyl." Twilight had a lot to think about, and a lot to do. She needed a checklist.

Hours passed and Twilight opened the portal. Stepping through it, she found herself arriving late in the evening. Luckily no one was around.

Holding up the enchanted stone that she had prepared in the previous few hours, she hoped it worked as she give it a little squeeze. A magic arrow began to swivel around in its depths and she grimaced. "Come on, come on...!"

For a moment, it pointed towards the north, and then swung wildly about before pointing South-West. Taking her best shot, she followed it through the unfamiliar streets.

It took about twenty minutes and bumping into a couple of familiar faces before she found herself standing at a corner store. Opening the door, she looked around for a face she could recognize before locating what she needed: a familiar mop of gold hair hunched over a lone taco.

Gathering her courage, Twilight moved over to her and cleared her throat. "Adagio? Can I speak with you for a moment?"

The teenager looked up and instantly her expression darkened. "Oh it's you," she grumbled, sounding tired and worn out. "Come to brag more about your victory yesterday?"

"... it's been four weeks," said Twilight in surprise.

"Pffh, time," said Adagio with a sneer. "You have no idea how slowly it moves in this world, do you? Whatever. What do you want, princess?"

"I... well... that is, a friend of mine told me about your battle with Star Swirl and... I just wanted to... apologize, for his actions." Said Twilight.

Adagio blinked. "That's a first. What, do you expect me to just take that from you as a Royal Apology?"

"No, I didn't think you'd take it at all," said Twilight with a sadness to her tone. "I just.... think that you need a friend. You and the other Sirens. Star Swirl... I don't say this often, and I don't think I've ever said it, but I think he really did you wrong. I mean, you were... being who you are. And being who you are, even if it hurts somepony, needs to be expressed."

And with that, Twilight bowed at the waist. "As Princess of Friendship, I apologize, not just for myself, but the others around me."

A long moment passed as Adagio regarded her. "Huh. So the great princess of Equestria apologizes for the deeds of one barmy old man." With a snort, Adagio folded her arms. "Look Princess, I don't like you. But I'll accept your apology IF you do me one thing."

"... what's that?" asked Twilight warily.

In response, Adagio held out the shattered remains of her gem. "Get these fixed for us. Me and the others. If you do that, we won't cause large-scale problems anymore. They're... important to us. Real important. They're like who we are."

Cautiously, Twilight took the gems and placed them into her skirt pocket. "Deal. I'll have them fixed for you soon. Just hang tight till then."

As Twilight turned to leave, she added, "It's not fun, being half the pony... ore siren, isn't it?"

"What would you know about that?" asked Adagio sharply. "You never..." She broke off, seeing Twilight's expression. "Huh. You lost your MAGIC recently didn't you?"

"How...? Oh, uh, yes, I did. I got it back but..."

Adagio waved her hand. "I can almost smell the stench of separation magic on you. It's almost delicious in a way. Go on, before I change my mind. You'll probably be back anyhow so come here to drop them off."

With that, Twilight left, almost brushing up against a girl with dark violet-and-green hair before heading back to the school.

Said person sat down across from Adagio with a confused look. "Who was that?"

"Just someone I know from out of town," said Adagio with a shrug. "So Starlight, you're buying tonight right?"

"Only if you eat normally," said Starlight Glimmer, as the pair watched Twilight run past the window. "That girl looks familiar."

"Oh don't mind her, she's harmless," said Adagio with a grin. "Now where were we?"


	4. Variation 4: Decade Effect

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In another place, Prince Solaris summons his pupil Dusk Shine for an important task...

"My Prince, Dusk Shine is here to see you," said the guard at the door.

"Send him in and dismiss the guard. I expect privacy for the conversation we are to have." Said Prince Solaris. The guard bowed and ushered in the young alicorn, stepping through the door and bowing for a moment.

"You sent for me, Prince Solaris? It's not another test is it?" asked Dusk Shine.

"Nothing like that. Come along, and walk with me. There is something that I wish to show you." Turning, the Prince tapped the door in three places before it opened up nearby, and revealed a room hidden from sight. Dusk tilted his head curiously before following. What he saw was a small study, with a large jewel-encrusted mirror in the middle. "Is this...?"

"It is not the same mirror I sent you, Dusk," said Solaris. "That was the prototype mirror, the one that lead to the human world."

"Ooookay, so if that's the prototype, then this must be the completed one." Circling around the horseshoe shaped mirror, Dusk prodded it. "What's this all about?"

"As you know, there are several worlds that can only be accessed at certain times of the day, month, year and hour. The mirror to the human world is one of those, but it has the side effect of causing a blending in effect. This one, has no such limitations. My mentor, Star Whirl, created a portal. We journeyed through it once, only to find that a wide multiverse had opened up for us. And from it, we hopped from world to world, bringing new inventions we see here today, cures for diseases, and other such items and trinkets." Solaris gestured towards the mirror. "However, we discovered something amiss, an effect that we call the Decade Effect."

"The Decade Effect?" asked Dusk curiously. "What's that?"

"It's an effect that occurs when you visit a world more than one time, a cascading effect comes into play as the two worlds will begin to become linked. It was theorized that more than one journey to the world would begin to merge both worlds together, bringing them closer to one another. I was hoping to avoid this, by sealing it up. Star Whirl disagreed with me, but in time, we decided it was for the best. We left notes on all of its effects, before sealing it away into this pocket-room."

Turning to Dusk, Solaris said, "We were hoping that some day, I would take on a student brighter than I was in my youth, who could perfect the portal and avoid the Decade Effect before it threatens both worlds. To facilitate cross-dimensional travel once more, would be a boon to our people and the rest of society. Imagine what we could learn, now that time has passed in many worlds. The advances we could obtain with negotiation."

"It's a lot of work..." said Dusk as he stepped over to the book and flipped it open, the pages crisp as the day they set the book there. "But I'll do my best."

=====

Decade Effect

=====

Equestria-3  
12:45 pm  
Thursday

Dusk had never come across such a challenge as this one. Day by day, he worked on the project, deciphering the complexities of space-time travel. "Star Whirl was either mad, or a mad genius to have come up with most of these spells to pierce space and time." he muttered to himself, paging through the book.

"But what is she missing? There's something missing here that would probably turn this in our favor. Some kind of device or spell or cantrip I missed..."

Hanging his head, Dusk gritted his teeth. "No, no way am I giving up. I'm the Prince of Friendship, I can figure this out. And maybe I need a little help from the rest of the court so to speak."

Moving to the door, he called out, "Guards?" At his call, two uniformed guards stepped forward. "Send a summons to my friends if you will please. I'd like to see them as soon as possible."

"Yes my prince," the pair echoed in tandem as they headed off to send the message. With that settled, Dusk returned to his studies, pouring over the notes. Taking a sip of cold tea, Dusk continued to scribble on the parchment. "It's not the power structure, it's something else entirely. Something I'm missing that causes the Decade Effect to happen."

An hour passed, and soon a assembled group of ponies stood in the room. Well mostly. Bubble Berry was bouncing around, looking at everything in the secret room while others examined the items organized on the shelves. "So to recap, Prince Solaris wants me, with the help of all of you, to figure out why the Decade Effect continually occurs. If we're able to stop it, and clear the portal of this effect then we will be able to visit other worlds."

"And you figured that more eyes looking over the notes would be a good idea then? Sounds like boring egghead work to me," grumbled Rainbow Blitz. "But if this'll get you out of the cave more often than I guess I'll help out."

"This is not a cave, it's just very well sealed," retorted Dusk. "And Bubble Berry, don't go through that mirror! We don't know where it's linked up to right now."

"Oh c'mon, it's sparkly!" Protested Bubble Berry but he grinned. "Hey, look at these runes on the side of it."

"... what runes?" said Dusk, peering at the mirror. "I don't see any runes."

"Well maybe you're just looking from the front, silly!" And with that, Bubble Berry spun the mirror about to show off the carvings on the side of the mirror.

"He's got you there," drawled Applejack as Blitz facepalmed and Elusive hid a smile at Dusk's seemingly perturbed expression. "Now lets see..."

"Hey I recognize this one," said Blitz suddenly as the stallions encircled the mirror. "This one is similar to my cutie mark!"

"This one over here too," said Elusive. "And dear me, there's more. At least twelve in all."

"Honesty, Loyalty, Magic," read off Butterscotch from one side before going to the other. "And there's Laughter, Kindness and Generosity on the other. So what are these other symbols meaning?"

"It's got to be in a book somewhere," said Dusk, grabbing the book and automatically flipping through it. "It might be some symbols from the other worlds they visited..."

"Here's one, it's in the shape of... hmm, actually I'm not too sure what it looks like. Like a bug with a heart," said Applejack. "Some kind of symbol for...?"

"That's no symbol or cutie mark I've seen before," muttered Elusive. "But a heart with some kind of adornments could be related to perhaps your brother-in-law, Dusk?"

"So... love then?" surmised Blitz. "What a girly, er, I mean, yeah, that's probably it."

"This other one... here, look at this!" Exclaimed Applejack, pointing at those. "Ah'd recognize those symbols anywhere, it's the Flim Flam Brothers cutie mark!"

"... no offence but I don't think the Element of Swindling works," deadpanned Blitz as Butterscotch cleared his throat softly. "Yeah, Butterscotch?"

"Well actually, if you look here... the way those symbols are angled? It's sort of styled in a interlocking F symbol." said Butterscotch. "What could that stand for?"

"Faker? Fraud?" Said Applejack.

"Fairness," said Elusive, the others turning towards him. "Look its only natural if you think about it. What's the polar opposite of their act? Fairness. The trust and fair work of a pair of brothers in arms to keep everypony happy."

"Seems far fetched to me, but I'll run with it. Now then, look at this. This is Presto's cutie mark. If we're going by the same methodology then, what are we looking at?" asked Dusk.

"Ooh ooh I know this one! Humility!" Exclaimed Bubble Berry excitedly. "Because Presto's got an ego the size of the Grand Canyon! Being totally humble would really be his opposite!"

"So that's three down, three to go," said Dusk, looking at the next symbol and going wall-eyed for a moment. "... seven bubbles?"

"No flippin' way," deadpanned Blitz. "Derpy Doo's cutie mark? That bubblehead...! He's a good mailpony but his directions are so bad!"

"Let's not count this out. What is Derpy known for?" asked Dusk.

"Airheadedness, problems with his short term memory, lack of directions..." Listed off Applejack. "Nothing that stands out here."

"Well..." said Butterscotch, "When we were in school together, Derpy got the lowest grades at times, but made up for it in others so... Perhaps Knowledge?"

"Well, he is smart in a lot of stuff, I mean he is keeping the house running with those kids of his," mused Applejack. "And he knows his numbers an' Red Gala's fancy mathematics even if he crashes into a lot of stuff."

"His strength is remarkable, and he's world-wise, if not educated. Perhaps this is one of those things that we need to look beyond appearances for," said Elusive. "Honestly, a lot of ponies misjudge Derpy after all."

"Then its settled. This symbol is probably Knowledge then, and lets not count out Derpy next time." Blitz had a moment to look embarrassed as Dusk cleared off the dust in the last few symbols. "Now this is strange... We've gone through four of them, but the last two symbols are scratched out."

"Maybe that's the key we're looking for," said Applejack. "If there's a chance we can find the last two symbols, then we can safely put aside whatever that effect might be."

Blitz moved upwards, scrubbing at the surface before frowning. "It's not scratched out," he said. "Something is MISSING." And he moved to the other side. "And here too! Look, it's too smooth to be a scratch. Whatever happened here, somepony removed something from the sides of the mirror."

"Well, we won't get any answers just examining it. I say we hit the books then." Said Dusk firmly as he floated over several books from the surrounding library. "Keep an eye out for any mention of the mirror in these. I've got more work to do."

=====

Hours passed, as the light in the room was switched to lamps with Solaris lowering the sun that evening. As the books piled up, Blitz had fallen asleep on his books only to be nudged awake a few times by Applejack who was similarly looking exhausted from the days study.

Bubble Berry had already gone off on a hunch, leaving the group while Elusive and Butterscotch returned after fetching food for the rest of the group. "Anything?" Asked Elusive, setting the food down in front of Dusk.

Dusk levitated a carrot stick up and bit into it absently. "Nothing so far, and I've already gone through so many books. I'm beginning to think that this might be a waste of time looking through here. If only the old library was still intact."

"We all miss Golden Oaks," said Butterscotch. "But I suppose we'll have to wait for the tree to re-grow in that spot."

"Yeah. Say, where'd Bubble Berry go?" asked Dusk. The others looked up as he groaned. "Don't tell me he's still off on his hunch."

"With Bubble Berry Hunches you never know. For all we know he's probably in the kitchen," laughed Applejack.

"Well, I guess we should report all of this to the Prince then." Said Dusk. "Before we get any more derailed."

"I agree," said Elusive. "The sooner the better."

=====

"As expected," mused the Prince after Dusk and the others gave their report. Bubble Berry was still nowhere to be seen in the group. "In all my years going through that portal, I never noticed those symbols on the side had any deep significance. Now then, you were asking about those deep impressions into the side of the wood?"

"Yes, we were hoping that you could shed some light on it." Said Dusk. "Can you remember anything about the mirror?"

"When we shut it down the first time, Star Whirl took two gemstones from either side. I had thought them to be the stabilizers at the time, but when I tested the portal on a whim, it opened up perfectly." Solaris' brow furrrowed in thought. "Perhaps however, I was wrong at that time. If these gemstones provide the conduit in which to prevent the Effect from happening, then perhaps we should be cautious about reopening the mirror once more."

"Or... and this is simply conjecture, I had a thought. What if the Effect came about because of those gemstones?" Said Elusive thoughtfully. "I know quite a bit about gemstones, and there is also a problem with utilizing them as a source of energy or a focus. The slightest imperfection could cause a change in a spell matrix."

"Oh? A remarkable suggestion." Said Solaris. "I am impressed, Elusive but tell me; where did you discover such a detail?"

"It was nothing your majesty, only a thought. However, when I created the new cape for Presto a few weeks ago, he commissioned a ruby to be set in the middle of it. The ruby served as a focus for his magic, in order to amplify his stage performances and abilities, not unlike his previous incident with the Alicorn Amulet." Elusive cleared his throat at the expressions the others gave him. "However, it would serve better as a type of "wand" as it were. In fact, many of my finest creations house gemstones in very specific patterns in order to utilize the route of magic."

"So if magic stones are the key here, then where'd Bubble Berry get off to?" Asked Applejack.

"Bubble Berry asked for a ride to his hometown," said Solaris. "He said there was a specialist he needed to fetch on the subject of rocks and gemstones."

"It must be his older brother, Rock Berry," surmised Dusk. "If anypony knows anything about gemstones more than anypony combined, it's Rock Berry."

"I have to agree on that," said Elusive. "His skill with rocks are quite impressive."

"Then we should wait for Bubble Berry to return, so that we may get the impression of our specialist," said Solaris. "In time, you five should go and get some rest. It is a bit of a carriage trip from here to Rockville and back."

"No argument here. I could use a mite to stretch my legs." Applejack turned around. "C'mon Blitz, lets go racin' around the gardens."

"Finally, some action! Count me in." With that, Blitz streaked out of the room, leaving rustling papers behind.

"I think I'm going to take a nap," said Butterscotch. "The animals are still a little lukewarm since the last time I visited."

"A room will be made up for you then," said Solaris as he summoned a guard who saluted and lead the butter pony out of the room. "And you, Dusk and Elusive?"

"I'm going back to the mirror. I might have missed something even Bubble Berry missed," said Dusk.

"I will take the time to freshen up then," said Elusive. "And compose a letter to Silver Bell to eat out tonight with his friends. If you will excuse me."

As the ponies dispersed, Solaris frowned to himself in thought as he stepped off his chair and headed for the private rooms. He hadn't gotten two steps however before a voice cut in. "Tis a glorious night. It is a waning half-moon... or is it a waxing gibbous?"

"Artemis," greeted Solaris. "You're usually on patrol by now."

"We have bigger fish to fry tonight, dear brother." Said Artemis, the younger prince of the night walking over and matching Solaris's stride. "The mirror, it worries you?"

"It does. I do not wish to endanger my little ponies if the Effect comes into play. But I do wish to allow them to explore the multiverse as freely as I once did. Is that so wrong?"

"Not wrong, no. Just endearing. Dusk Shine and his friends have grown in many ways, and I am certain that they will handle the responsibility thus far. It has been an age since the magic mirrors were opened up however." Artemis tilted his head in thought. "Perhaps it would be all right, to risk a little more."

"And send them out fully knowing that the Effect is in play? Artemis..."

"Hear me out brother. There are tens of hundreds of worlds out there, each with its own society, all of them different. Even if they were to visit once, the chance of revisiting is highly unlikely. Why not risk a little more? In time, we can stabilize the portal without any further damage to reality." Artemis rolled his eyes at Solaris' expression. "You're over-thinking it."

",,, perhaps you're right. I'm just worried that if we stayed any longer than we should in a world, the Effect would begin to pull our world closer to another."

"Let the younger generation learn from what we have done then." Said Artemis. "And they will be able to create what we have failed to do."


	5. Variation 5: Letters to a Legion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Correspondence during wartime is a hard thing to do. Especially when one is fighting for the survival of their very existence. MLP/WoW: Legion

A quill was dipped in ink with the owner holding it in a golden glow of magic. Pony magic came like breathing to Celestia, and yet her chest was tight as she wrote it. Outside, the skies were peaceful as always, an illusion to keep the natives from panicking.

With a heavy heart, she began to write.

Dear Twilight,

It has been a long time since we've wrote each other, and even longer still since we've seen one another. Would it be that it was like the old days when we would simply take a short chariot ride to see one another.

Ponyville, and Equestria is safe still. Our special guests keep it well hidden in our little corner of the galaxy. Certainly ponies miss their favorite princess, but they'll have to settle for Luna filling their nights with joy.

I wish I could speak with you, but you are so far away. I hope this letter reaches you. Spike is with you, right? I know he would never leave your side no matter the problem at hand.

I can only send a short letter, but Sunset sends her regards. She wishes she could see you again, but she said she is going to something called a Camp.

Your friend,  
Princess Celestia

With a flick of her magic, Celestia rolled up the parchment, and locked it with a royal seal before flicking it away in a burst of fire. Then, turning towards the castle court, she declared court was open.

=====

A day passed and no communication. Celestia was worried but her students duties took precedent for the situation at hand. And then, a parchment came, smoking a little from the exit from the long journey it had undertook.

Dear Princess Celestia,

I'm glad everypony thinks of us, as we go on our mission at hand. Our new friends are incredible, I'm learning so much about the magic they call the Arcane! They have millions of years of history here, more than I could ever get through in a day.

The girls are doing well, and Spike too. Spike is already complaining about the lack of comic books or fresh air, but in our downtime, one of our allies has shown us something called a Viewing Crystal, and has queued up old plays for them. They're really entertaining.

Applejack wants to send some of these plants she found. They're pure so we don't have to worry. It's kind of amazing that we discovered that plant life still grows here, but I guess our opponents need to eat too. Rainbow Dash hates flying here though, as she said it feels heavy. I guess she and Fluttershy don't want to stay in the air too long.

Pinkie Pie has been a great morale booster for everypony, throwing parties over every little moment she can afford. Though I think she's running out of confetti. Send more! And of course Rarity is studying their fashion. And I think she's planning on fashioning things for us too, with the materials we have on hand.

I need to get going, or else our window of reply will close. I hope everypony in Ponyville is doing well.

Your friend,  
Twilight Sparkle

After rolling up the parchment, Celestia added it to the list. How many replies had even gotten through? Her journey was a perilous one, but with the help of their friends, the would be able to protect Equestria even after she had turned old and grey.

With a sigh, Celestia prepared to lower the sun for the moon to rise.

=====

Dear Princess Celestia,

It's been a crazy few days here. Although it feels like an eternity. Up is down, left is right, and I think only Pinkie Pie makes any sense in this place.

We managed to secure a location with our friends in a place that was once sacred to the original inhabitants. Though one of our friends has gone missing since the last push. You'd like him, he's not like the other [unfamiliar word] that work with the dangerous people. He's enthralled in this thing they call the Light.

Spike has been a big help once he got used to the routine. He's been growing stronger, and eating well. He's able to carry all of the troops gear in one go! Although it also takes Rarity and I to stabilize them,

Best of luck with our new push!

Your friend,  
Twilight Sparkle

It had been... three months since the last letter. And Celestia had begun to give up hope of any reply. Any letters she had sent never arrived, or perhaps arrived late. Who knew? At the same time, she worried her student would come changed, and not for the better.

A duty of a princess was to protect her subjects, and above all else, protect her friends. Maybe now, Twilight realized this even more than before.

Celestia rose the sun, but it was cold on this winter day.

=====

Spring came and a letter arrived, written on a terrifying parchment made of a dull red leather. For a moment, Celestia and Luna were loathe to open up the parchment, but soon did so.

The letter however was in Twilights sturdy hornwriting and they breathed a sigh of relief. Even with the disturbing "paper" it was written on, the intent was clear.

Dear Princess Celestia,

I'm sorry for the lack of communication, it's been a busy few... years? I think? Time really doesn't flow well here in the Nether. I'm sorry for the lack of proper parchment, I ran out and there was an attack, and even though a lot of our members got hurt, we managed to salvage some of the enemies writing supplies.

The word enemy was forefront in Celestia's mind as she read this out loud. Twilight never made enemies, only friends. To have been worn down this much... this Campaign, against the dark forces was becoming strenuous.

Commander Lothraxion has requested we reinforce a small world that could be key to ending this war.

There was the words again. Reinforce. War. More reason that this task would take more than ever to finish.

I, and the rest of our friends are being sent to a small world which has a Titan Soul in it. And heroes. Heroes who are stronger than any warrior of the Army of the Light have seen before. It is his hope we will find the resources we seek to reinforce the barrier around our world.

I know one thing however. We can't make friends with the Burning Legion. They are terrible beings, and even if some have come to our side in search of a brighter future, they are cruel and dark.

I wish I didn't have to finally admit this, Princess, but the Army of the Light is losing ground. That is why me and the girls and Spike are being evacuated to this world, called Azeroth. It is there, we hope, we will find the Titan Soul hospitable to our aid.

Your friend,  
Twilight Sparkle


	6. Variation 6: Of Stargates And...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In a land of Robots and Ponies, SG1 Comes a-calling

"Hey what's that alarm?" inquired a scientist as several ponies had decided to drop everything and run around like panicked foals.

The other scientist, a mousy brown maned mare named Quick Winded looked up. "Oh that's the incoming traveller alarm."

"That's the incoming traveller alarm?" inquired her companion. "It doesn't sound like the incoming traveller alarm..."

Quick Winded paused, listened to the alarm and picked up her things, storing them into her pockets. Wrapping her overlarge scarf around her neck, she grinned. "That's because it's the Other-Incoming Traveller Alarm."

"Ooooooohh," said her companion. "Should we hurry then?"

Nodding, Quick Winded and the other scientist headed to the command center where a glowing circle of light was being dialled in. "Where are we getting the wormhole from?" she asked Perceptor who was running calculations.

"According to these readings, we're finally being visited from Earth," replied Perceptor as the wormhole was established with a loud whoosh of unstable energy before it receded into a stable portal of glowing liquid-like light. "Incoming traveller!"

On cue, a Earth MALP trundled through and Quick Winded looked over at Perceptor. "Do you want to take this or should I?" she asked.

"You do it. It'll soften the blow," said the overly large red robot.

Taking a quick inhale of her ventilator, she trotted over and tapped the MALP. It instantly swivelled its camera over to her and she backed away a little. "Um, yes, hi. Hello. Greetings from Equestria. You can understand us since our languages are similar and there's a bit of crossover and all. That being said, we're quite friendly, yes, we're ponies, by all means, come and send your people over we'd very much like to get to know you all better and um..." She turned over to Perceptor. "Am I missing anything?"

"Bring twinkies," suggested Perceptor. "Unless they closed manufacture of it down. Some of our people are missing it."

"Yes, twinkies." Quick Winded thought for a moment. "Oh and if you're wondering, we've known about you lot for quite some time, but I'm sure your superiors don't. Unless you have level 9 clearance and all. So bug Washington about that. And um, that should be everything. See you all on the other side."

Giving the MALP a pat, she trotted away as the Guards took up positions of security in plain sight of the MALP's sweeping camera. One of them waved at the MALP before his commanding officer gave him a look.

Quick Winded stopped at a communications console and tabbed it once. "Security, this is Quick Winded. Please inform Princess Celestia and Princess Luna that the Stargate has opened up. Our people are ready to receive the human delegation."

"Understood, relaying the message, Quick Winded." Came the reply.

It was about twenty minutes later when the incoming telemetry responded, and four travellers appeared clad in military garb stepped through the Stargate. The man in the lead, a human of average height whistled at the huge building that housed UNIT's main facility as the Royal Guard snapped to attention. "Get a load of this place," he exclaimed as Quick Winded set her tea cup down and stepped forward.

"The architecture is reminiscent of Greco-Roman design but the designs of the technology and the computer banks..." The woman in the group turned as she noticed Quick Winded stepping up to them smiled. "You're the horse that greeted us."

"Pony," corrected Quick Winded. "I am Quick Winded, Chief Scientific Assistant to Kate Lethbridge-Stiffhoof, Brigadier General of UNIT. Welcome to Equestria, Stargate Command."

"You're aware of us, like you said," said the third man in the group, one with sandy blonde hair. "And you're ponies. With highly advanced technology."

"Technology we gave them," said Perceptor, causing the humans to startle as he assumed his form from the tiny microscope. Only the last, a sturdy barrel-chested man merely raised his eyebrow. "I am Perceptor, of the Autobots."

"The steel giants of legend. I have heard of your kind before," said Teal'c sagely. "I welcome you, upon the Jaffa warriors honor."

"Wait, Teal'c you've met these guys before?" asked the leader.

"Not directly, Cameron Mitchell," replied Teal'c quickly. "But our scholars have told of steel giants who once descended upon our world, before the System Lords routed them from our lands. It nearly cost them a hold on the entire arm of the galaxy."

"Probably in search of Energon," replied Perceptor knowingly. "Ratchet could brief you more, but he is currently occupied right at the moment."

"How did you expand from such a small form? The amount of mass displaced would take trillions of joules of energy to compensate for it," asked Sam, awed.

"I will share our size expansion circuitry later, once talks settle in. For now, your guide is waiting." Perceptor gestured towards Quick Winded who was waiting, amused at the by-play.

"Oh well I'm Cameron Mitchell, this is Teal'c, Samantha Carter and Daniel Jackson and I really gotta know how you people know about us," said Cam. "Because last I checked, there was no level 9 security clearance."

"That is because it does not technically exist on your planet," said Quick Winded with a smile. "Not officially at any rate. Now if you would all please follow me, there are a couple of ponies that are waiting to meet you all."

Leading them out of the room and up a flight of stairs, they stopped at a security checkpoint before the doors opened into a grand hallway, decorated with stained glass windows. Each one of them depicted various scenes of famous events, and Cam paused at one where six ponies were striking a mare before moving on.

At a pair of majestic doors, a pair of guards saluted before opening the door. Cam felt a slight unease pour through his stomach, as if it was doing flipflops as a sheer presence seemed to fill the hall. At the other end, a pony as big as a horse sat on a throne with a smaller midnight-blue pony sitting there, gauging them with interest. Quick Winded bowed as she turned to the travellers. "Stargate, our Princesses, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna."

"We welcome you all to our humble planet," said Celestia with a warm smile.

"Yes, though it is not the first time we have had visitors from your world set foot upon ours," added Luna.

"I don't mean to question that claim but just how long have you been in contact with Earth, exactly?" inquired Daniel, looking around briefly.

"Neigh on three years now," replied Luna. "A accident with a Energon storm and our ground-bridge technology, sent a team of ponies and Autobots to Jasper, Nevada."

"In which your government set up a special case with our little ponies, and managed to send them home with the help of some very good friends of ours," said Celestia. "We have a team stationed in Griffin Rock at the moment."

""Why classify it then?" asked Daniel. "With our help, Stargate Command could have established formal trading with your people."

"It would have not been wise, Daniel Jackson," stated Teal'c. "With the Tau'rii having power given to them by the Asgardians and the endless struggle against the system lords and further threats, Earth as well as Equestria would have been a prime target for both parties."

"Including groups like the IOA and previous human-groups too," summed up Cam. "I get it. Keep your friends classified, so that deniability is easy enough for when the fur starts flying."

"We would like nothing more than to open formal trade with Earth, but until your Stargate Command has finally dealt with the threats of our galaxy, then we cannot rest at ease yet," said Luna stiffly.

"My sister speaks the truth. To do so, especially with Cybertronian technology at our disposal would be disastrous if a agent of your enemies discovered our world." said Celestia. "I do wish we could open negotiations but the time is not yet at hand."

The white monarch then smiled. "However, we will be sending a couple of ambassadors to your world, in order to facilitate the exchange of beginning these talks. We have some friends who would very much like to visit Earth once more, even for a short while."

"While technology is still out of the question, we do it to safeguard our people, as well as yours. The process of distributing this advanced equipment is still also very new to our little ponies," added Luna. Cam really tried not to snicker, and he managed not to at least grin at the description. "We will be assigning a very unique cultural ambassador to your people. One who has saved literally all of time and space before."

Quick Winded gasped. "You mean... him?"

"Unfortunately, he is off saving the universe again. Possibly from either Daleks, Cyberponies, the Smooze or all three." replied Luna with no amount of disdain in her voice, mostly due to him leaving her here. Again.

"Instead, your guide will be his Companion." said Celestia.

The wall caved in, and a mare with off-set eyes winced. "Sorry, my bad!"

"There she is now." said Celestia calmly as the SG team stared.

=====

Four humans and a pony stepped out of the ground-bridge, and Cam nearly lost his lunch. "God that is uncomfortable," he dry-heaved into the grass.

"Welcome to Ponyville," said Derpy Hooves, gesturing at the town which was getting on its feet after some kind of disaster had hit it, with roofs torn off. "We had a bit of a storm blow through the town a few days ago. Nothing to worry about. My house is just over here, c'mon!"

It was clear that whatever scale the ponies built on, it was accommodating enough for humans as SG1 didn't even have to stoop down when the door opened, but not before a mint-green unicorn popped up, startling the group. "Hey! Derpy, you didn't tell me you were bringing guests!"

"Oh yeah I was! Lyra, this is SG-1, from Earth. They just gated in after all. Everypony, this is Lyra Heartstrings, a member of RID."

"RID?" inquired Sam.

"Robots In Disguise," clarified Lyra. "I work with the Autobots mostly on their day to day stuff. Derpy I'll bring the muffins over later. I've got patrol duty with Sunstreaker. Speaking of which, he's late."

The answering roar of a throaty Lamborghini engine came from the road as a flashy red and orange painted car zoomed into view, pulling up sharply. It beeped twice, as the rider was nowhere to be seen. "C'mon Lyra, shake a leg! We're late!"

"You're late!" Exclaimed Lyra, climbing into the drivers seat. "And turn on your image inducer before you startle everypony."

"I hate that thing," grumbled Sunstreaker but he shimmered into a sporty looking carriage with a pony that wore a wild hairstyle "driving" the front. "Laters!" And with that, the car turned carriage tore off into the distance, leaving SG-1 speechless.

"I want one," said Cam finally.

As Derpy showed the team into her house, she flitted around, grabbing muffins that were coming right out of the oven as if on schedule. "I'm always prepared for guests," she said, grabbing mugs and filling them with coffee. She gauged Teal'c for a moment. "You look like an ice cream pony to me."

"Yes please," said Teal'c immediately, his expression brightening instantly.

Once the group had been served, Cam took a sip of the coffee and his eyes widened. "This, is the best damn coffee in the world." He declared.

"Got it from Quo'noS," replied Derpy as she filled Sam's mug. "Back with the mess with the Trek Ponies and their people. I remember Kirk and Spock."

"Excuse me, Kirk and Spock?" echoed Daniel, bewildered. "But they're just television characters."

"Well maybe in our world, but not in cross-fictional meta-states," replied Derpy. "It's all a bunch of wibbly wobbly timey wimey spacey wacey stuff. No need to get your mane ruffled about it."

"Fascinating," murmured Sam, taking a sip of the alien coffee. "And this is the best coffee in the world."

A loud sound echoed through the house, sounding something like vroop vroop, a wheezing grinding noise as Derpy perked up in delight. "Oh and my husband's home. Come, you'll want to see him."

Following Derpy to the back yard, a blue barn was materializing and Daniel took a moment to examine it, wishing he had a pair of smarty pants glasses to put in to make sure he wasn't seeing things. "Is that...?"

"TARDIS," deadpanned Cam as a pony stumbled out coughing. "And that must be the Doctor."

"Oh, hello everyone. Looks like we did have guests after all like you said we would Derpy," said the Doctor as he brushed his coat off. "Hello there, you four must be from SG-1 I imagine. You've had a lineup change since I last saw you all."

"Doctor," greeted Teal'c. "You look well."

"Ah Teal'c, good show! You're still on the team, I figured you would be still. Come inside, have some ice cream, oh wait you have some already. Excellent. Derpy, are the muffins ready?" The Doctor trundled into the house, pausing to wipe his hooves on the welcome mat. "The kids aren't back yet from school, are they?"

"No Doctor, they're actually still in classes right now. Cheerilee said it's a long day," replied Derpy as Daniel tried to process everything and failed.

"Doctor Who is a television show," he breathed, echoed by the Doctor who smirked. "Oh I love that, it's so funny hearing that the transfictional boundaries between here and earth have thinned enough for reality to get all knackered up!"

"We should take a look at them, and see if there's any more crossover happening," said Derpy thoughtfully. "Bring Pinkie Pie along?"

"Yes, well she's never been quite the same since she saw the fourth wall has she?" said the Doctor thoughtfully before tapping at an unseen space behind himself. "In any case, welcome to Ponyville everypony and I'm glad you're here. Barely anything bad happens so I'm sure you can disarm yourselves and relax. Have some coffee and tea and try my wife's muffins, hmm?"

Cam chuckled. "As much as we'd like to disarm ourselves, standard procedure says we shouldn't but considering what we've seen? This planet is well protected against anything the universe throws at it."


	7. Variation 7: The Physics Are Too Odd

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sunset has many possibilities. This is one of them.

The Physics Are Too Odd

Sunset Shimmer had seen the odd man in the labcoat around the school a few times, occasionally checking his pocket watch and looking up at the clock that was inevitably next to him. He was never in the same place, always gazing at the time and looking through the vast sea of students. Inevitably, his gaze would land on hers, and he'd give her a little smile before disappearing around the corner.

Sunset wanted answers. For most of her life here in the other world, she had seen him appear and go, never looking younger or older than he did at that given time. It was something that nagged at her for quite a while.

It was on this day that she stepped around the corner, and found the man in the coat talking to one of the professors, Time Turner, otherwise known as the Doctor.

"You shouldn't be here, Paradox, not at this time," argued the Doctor. "Crossing your own timeline has great effects that could cause trouble later on."

"My dear friend, if there's anyone who has taken a risk it is you, staying stationary throughout linear time," replied the man who was named, inexplicably, Paradox. But then again, considering the names in the town, it wasn't much of a stretch. "You know as well as I do that I usually avoid this universe entirely."

"Which is why you shouldn't be here," Argued the Doctor. "I've got everything under control."

"Oh yes, I know," replied Paradox calmly, seemingly infuriating the Doctor further. "Which is why, I just came along for a moment in time. Hello Sunset Shimmer, come along, we've got much work to do."

"Wait, how did you know who I was?" Asked Sunset, feeling stupid for even asking.

"Sunset, this isn't your problem, go back to class," said the Doctor sharply, making her jump in surprise at his tone. The usually nice and happy Doctor was practically enraged by now, glaring daggers at the man in front of him. "Celestia will hear about this."

"My dear boy, Celestia already knows and gives her best. There isn't much she can do about this, not at this stage of time at least." Paradox turned to Sunset and added, "I am Professor Paradox, and you already know your teacher the good Doctor."

"I know about him, but not about you. You're not human, are you?" said Sunset, folding her arms.

"Actually I am 100% human, just I am completely out of sync with time. A Timewalker if you will."

"Uh huh. And why is the Doctor so angry?"

"Restraining order," replied Paradox blithely.

"He's not to come within 500 light years of this Universe," grumbled the Doctor. "Remember the last restraining order you got?"

"Oh yes, the Celestialsapiens certainly enjoyed assigning it to me," said Paradox with a wide, goofy smile.

"Okay, so given the fact that you're human but somehow are involved in apparently, and this just a guess, time travel, what's that got to do with me?" asked Sunset.

"My dear, something or someone is on the verge of chopping down your own timeline, a tree if you will. The effects of a previous incident in a neighbouring universe has already had ramifications across cross-time. Other dimensions, other worlds, other universes in fact. There is more than one Earth after all, and more than one Equestria. But it seems that a certain someone has decided that you were too much of a liability."

"Great," said Sunset, her expression falling. "Just what I needed, someone taking vengeance for the things I did wrong."

"Which is why you need to fix it, to prevent it from happening in the first place. It will be but a few minutes before everything comes undone. Doctor I suggest getting into your little blue box to weather the storm."

"This isn't over Paradox," grumbled the Doctor as he made tracks for the shed.

"What's got him so riled up? If you're a time traveller and he's... well, is he a time traveller too?" Asked Sunset, only getting a genial smile from Paradox in reply. "Oh, well I guess that explains why he's always late."

"His method of travel is far less punctual than mine," said Paradox. "Come along, it's time to go."

And the pair vanished into light.

=====

Sunset blinked the stars out of her eyes as she looked up at the towering spires of... "Canterlot? What are we doing back here? We didn't go through the portal, did we?"

"My dear there are more things than the portal," said Paradox. Their arrival in the nearby alleyway of the upper spires of Canterlot had been concealed, and he was checking his watch. "Any minute now."

"Any minute for what?" asked Sunset, seconds before the whole east tower exploded into vines. "Is that...? No way..."

"Indeed. We are near the beginning of the Sunset Shimmer Timeline. In this point, your path diverges into many tree trunks, but lets for the record called this the Sunset Prime timeline. In here, you just passed your exam. Your job is to ensure, that what you did, happens."

"But what if I don't want it to happen?" Sunset turned to face Paradox, a hard expression on her face. "I don't want it to happen. You saw what I did to the school, what I did to everyone else. I can't let myself go through with that again."

"My dear, sometimes things happen like that. Even if you wish hard enough, changing your own timeline will in fact happen -- in another cross-time universe." Said Paradox. "For example, do you want to see another cross-time you?"

"... Show me."

"Very well. And off we go."

=====

"Princess Sunset Shimmer...?" Asked the young aid next to her. "I have the reports you wanted."

"Did you triple check and file them according to alphabetical?" Asked the Princess as Sunset Shimmer and Paradox peered around the corner at the two ponies.

Her aid, Twilight Sparkle nodded. "Yes, and even made certain to add the double-count system in too."

The princess smiled as she gave her friend a hug. "What would I do without my most faithful aid?"

"Curl up? I mean, you are the Element of Magic and the Princess of Friendship after all..." Laughed Twilight.

Sunset pulled back, looking at her fingers for a moment before peering back at the pair. "This... happened? This can happen I mean?"

"We are sitting in the cross-time dimension of 42 to be precise. The numbering system varies, but in this timeline, you and Celestia never had your fight, and you grew to love her like a mother again. She sent you to Ponyville, where you have 5 good friends. Your best friend however, is Twilight Sparkle of this world, who entered the school a few years after you. And you took her on as a friend and mentor."

"I never thought that I could become a princess for real." Sunset smiled at the happy scene. "But..."

"You wish to know what else you have in store?" Sunset nodded. "Very well. Brace yourself. It is not pretty."

=====

OBEY was written all over the walls in giant posters as Sunset breathed in the smoky air and coughed. "What happened to this place?" Asked Sunset, looking from the corners at the destitute ponies who littered the streets of Canterlot.

"This is the 25th dimension. In this universe, you overthrew Princess Celestia, breaking the bonds between her and the sun, leaving her powerless. You are the Solar Diarch now." Explained Paradox.

"What? That's impossible! I shouldn't have that kind of power, it doesn't make sense!"

"On the contrary, you do have that kind of power. And when you gained your hooves on the necronomicon back in the forbidden library, you gave it but a mere glance before. But in this universe, you had time to read it, from cover to cover. And found a spell to sever an alicorn from her magic, stealing it from her." Paradox rested a hand on her shoulder. "Do you want to see more of it?"

"Show me..." In a flash of light, the pair were standing near the entrance of a once beautiful palace, and inside was a winged alicorn, as terrible as the dawn. Sunset in this world radiated power, but her mere presence was filled with malice.

"I said wine, not juice you incompetent fool!" Twilight went into the wall with a sickening crack and slid down. The poor mare was battered from long years of service. "Don't tell me the stocks are nearly empty!"

Sunset looked away as cries of pain followed. "Take me away from here," she whispered. "Before I get sick."

=====

"What is this place?" said Sunset, looking at the town of Ponyville who was littered with ponies and humans, either side not really giving each other trusting looks. "There's humans here but... they're so young."

"This is the 15th Dimension of cross-time where you managed to control all of the humans in Equestrian City. Here, you led them as an army, but everyone was trapped on the other side once the portal closed. You managed to defeat Twilight Sparkle and her friends in this world, but the cost was too high."

"So... I'm a rampaging she-demon in this world too?" Sunset sunk down to her knees. "Oh this is all wrong, I'm not like that anymore!"

"I know you're not, but this too is a cross-time possibility," said Paradox. "When you arrived here, the portal was forced shut by Celestia. But without the portal, you were unable to return home. Thus, everyone lives here now in Ponyville. There's a certain level of distrust between the humans and the ponies however."

"How are they all human still? I thought the portal changed everypony," said Sunset.

"I don't know. That's something to look into, provided I'm allowed back here to explain further." Paradox checked his watch. "We should get going, before we are both noticed here. Your presence may cause undue panic."

And in a flash, they left.

=====

Appearing in the next world, Sunset looked around and chuckled. "What IS this place? It's so... pastel. There's pink and hearts everywhere."

"This is the 3rd Dimension. In this world, Celestia and Luna never took the throne. We are standing in Ponyville, the central hub of all of modern Equestria. To the north where Canterlot would be, is the kingdom of Unicornia, ruled by Princess Rarity." Explained Paradox.

"Princess Rarity? Wow, don't tell Rarity that, she'd get a huge swelled head." Laughed Sunset. "So far, this place isn't so bad."

"It's a touch saccharine for my tastes, but it is a very peaceful land. The Kingdom of Unicornia is ruled by an elected ruler each year. The mirror portal also exists here too, but is by far a lost art. There are scholars however who study it, and other kinds of magics which are performed by wand, and not unicorn horn." Paradox checked his watch. "Here comes one of the scholars now."

A purple mare was strolling through the streets and Sunset almost leaped for joy. "Twilight! She's okay in this world!"

"Actually she goes by the name Kimono in this world, and lives out of town in a cave. She is quite the scholar though, as her mindset would imply. You yourself live in the kingdom to the north, so your paths haven't crossed quite yet in this world. Cross-time is odd in the way that not all timelines are synchronized at all." Kimono hadn't noticed the pair standing to the side, busy with checking leaves nearby. "She is currently working on a new tea sample."

"Cakes and teas must be even more numerous in this world," mused Sunset. "If this is one of the worlds that avoided my influence, the better."

"Yes indeed. Though not all Equestrias are like this of course. As you've seen before, there are many possible worlds which diverge even earlier than the Sunset Prime timeline, yours in fact. Some of them diverge completely on creation. Others diverge around your tutoring by Celestia."

"What about other worlds that doesn't diverge from my own?" asked Sunset. "What are they like?"

"You're standing in one of them in fact, but lets see another." In a flash, they vanished, causing Kimono to look up in surprise.

"That's strange, I thought I saw someone there," she muttered before going back to her leaves.

=====

Appearing in a treeline, Sunset looked over at the small cottage. It really wasn't enough to call it a town, but it seemed bustling with ponies. To the side was a blonde woman who was directing them around the town. "This place is...?"

"This is the 1st Dimension, not to be confused with Sunset Prime's dimension, yours. In this world, the state of the world is in chaos. A monster named Tirek had recently enslaved many little ponies, and set his sights on their champion, the girl over there. Her name is Megan."

"Huh. Am I to guess that this world is pretty... uh, what's the word, savage, compared to modern Equestria?" asked Sunset.

"Indeed. This place, Dream Valley, is one of the few safe havens for the ponies of this world, and even then they are still constantly in danger from anything ranging between Gloom Witches who would eat them, to enemies like Grogar and the demons of air and shadow." Paradox shook his head. "There is little even I can do to help this dimension, the physics are all strange even by my standards."

"Hey isn't that Applejack over there?" asked Sunset, pointing at the orange pony with seven apples on her flank.

"Indeed. Some constants remain the same, and various ponies such as Surprise, Firefly and others are often mirrored in your Prime timeline as Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash. It really is quite amazing isn't it?" Laughed Paradox. "In short, they have a long road ahead of themselves. But it will help after all when push comes to shove."

"Hey, is someone in the trees?" Asked a mare who looked almost exactly like Twilight. "Megan, everyone, there's people in the trees!"

"Time to go, we need to leave before we're chased down," said Paradox as Megan rounded the corner. The pair vanished, leaving behind a wash of leaves from their rapid disappearance.

"Was it the Gloom Witches?" asked Firefly, landing next to Megan.

"No, it was... a girl and a guy in a labcoat...?" said Megan.

=====

"Ah and here we are, in another dimension. This one is quite the interesting one, as it is bustling with inter-world travel." Sunset opened her eyes to see what appeared to be some kind of receiving spaceport or facility. The skyline that could be seen through the windows however told her that this was Canterlot. "Don't worry about us not blending in here."

"If you say so." Walking through the port, there were numerous ponies everywhere, and aliens of all shapes and sizes. Even a giant on two legs trundled by. "What happened to this world?"

"In this world, space travel has been a thing ever since the world was young. This is the 63rd Dimension if I recall correctly, and leading them, well, take a look for yourself." Said Paradox, gesturing to a viewing area.

A familiar mare with an orange coat and red hair was doing some work, dressed in a business suit. She was scribbling things before she looked up. Sunset gave her a little wave and her eyes widened before she teleported up there. "Timewalker!" She snarled.

"Oh dear, I forgot," said Paradox as she punched him in the shins. "I deserved that."

"He brought you here, didn't he? He knows he has a restraining order here," said the native Sunset, turning towards her younger self.

"Hey, he never tells me anything. We just met!" Exclaimed Sunset Shimmer.

"It's true, and I was hoping this was before the restraining order. What about the Doctors however?" said Paradox, rubbing his leg.

"You didn't know? His was lifted after the Battle of Whinnipeg." Sunset rolled her eyes and gave him brief leg hug. "You don't visit as often as you should."

"Restraining order. I believe it was a buck to the legs last I checked." Said Paradox.

"You're not sorry at all, are you. Typical Paradox." Turning to Sunset Shimmer, she nodded at her younger self. "This guy is nothing but trouble. Keep an eye on him."

"We should get going then, before I actually get that buck to the shins." With an amused twinkle in Paradox's eye, the pair vanished.

=====

"Incoming Traveler alarm?" Asked Lyra, looking up. "We're not expecting any..."

FLASH. And Sunset and Paradox appeared. "Oh."

"Well, this is an interesting one," said Paradox. "This Dimension is hereby known as 22 and 1/2. A divergence centuries ago seeded the planet with Energon, causing it to be a prime target for off-world incursion."

"I figured by the level of technology," deadpanned Sunset as Shining Armor tuned off the alarm.

"You're not Shimmer are you?" said Shining. "The girl who stole Twilight's crown?"

"Ugh, is this is a pattern?" groaned Sunset, face in hands. "Yes but that was a long time ago."

"I am Professor Paradox. We've never met before and I've never stepped into this sub-dimension. This is quite the honor to meet you two."

Shaking hand and hoof with the pair, he looked up. "We shouldn't be here, it's a wobbly thing and I fear the Doctor has this one on strange lockdown for some reason."

"Right, well I suppose that's to be expected. See you two then?" said Lyra, obviously confused on what was happening.

"Take care!" And the pair vanished.

=====

"What is this? This doesn't even LOOK like Equestria!" Exclaimed Sunset as the world around them resolved into a giant city. Paradox tapped his watch.

"Oh dear, the ripple effect has begun to spread. We should make certain we finish our traveling before the end of the day. This world is where the 10th Dimension. But this dimension has already shifted. In this dimension, ponies who you expect to be heroes are actually different. Look."

Across the road from where they stood, a massive building with the name Sparkle Industries was written on it. "Twilight has her own company?" exclaimed Sunset, shocked by the turn of events.

"Yes. This world is protected by a group of superheroes they call the Power Ponies. In fact, one should be along shortly since our arrival has most likely been detected."

And in a blur of motion, the pair were surrounded by a pony in a skin-tight suit. She had a bit of resemblance to Pinkie Pie but her scowl told otherwise. "All right buster, who sent you two? The Clockwork King? Maybe High Heel? Or maybe Admiral Boomerang?"

"None of the above actually. We were passing through worlds when a shift in the universe sent us here," said Paradox in a jovial tone. "I am Professor Paradox, and this is my associate Sunset Shimmer. We're preparing to reboot Sunset's timeline before a shift occurs but apparently it has already happened. The Power Ponies aren't supposed to be on this dimension cycle and yet here we are."

"Urgh time travel," said Sunset, holding her head. "Did you get any of that?"

"Well kinda. C'mon, lets take you to the Stables then. I think Matterhorn would like to chat with you two." Answered the costumed mare. "Oh I'm Filly-Second, the fastest thing alive."


	8. Variation 8: Wish Upon Another Star

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Doors swing open in two directions, as Twilight learns about another world.

"Delivery for Princess Twilight," called out the mail mare as she rapped on the door. There was a moment's wait before it opened up, revealing Spike in an apron. "Morning Spike!" chirped Muffins.

"Morning Muffins, you have a package for us?" asked Spike as she nodded and held out a form. He signed for it, making the mark in the wax before she handed over a thick bound paper package. "Huh, it must be another book. Twilight's been getting a lot of these."

"Yeah, they're really heavy," said Muffins with a grin. "Okay, g'bye!"

Fluttering off, Spike shut the door behind him as he called out, "Mails here! Just a package for the Library though."

"Set it on the table, and we'll be done in a minute!" Called out Twilight as Spike entered the library. There, she and her newest student Starlight Glimmer were pouring over a new tome. "See, I think there's a problem with the thaumaturgical circuits here," she said, indicating the page.

"But the influx would cause the device to implode," said Starlight. "It's not as easy as just giving it a rewire."

"What are you two doing?" Asked Spike. "You've been at this all weekend!"

"Well, we're trying to figure out if we can hotwire the portal so that it can go other places," said Twilight. "Starlight brought it up first, as if we're taking the power from one book to connect to another, then what if we can make a portal open in another place?"

"Another world," corrected Starlight as she scribbled another equation on the parchment. "But so far, we're coming out with nothing."

"Sounds tiring," said Spike as he unwrapped the package. "Hey, check this out. It's got a letter too. From... Twilight, this is from A.K. Yearling!"

"Daring Do is writing us?" asked Twilight, dropping her quill as she turned over.

"I didn't know you knew Daring Do in person," said Starlight as Spike unrolled the letter. "Much less realized she was a real person."

"Dear Twilight, I hope this letter finds you well. I've been busy in the Basin when I came across this. It's a powerful enchanted tome, marked with hundreds of spells. I transcribed it, and it's known as the Book of Shatotto. It's got a lot of powerful magic, that I hadn't even heard of. I'm sending it to you, since I know you'll take good care of it. Sincerely, A. K. Yearling." He shook the book a little, just to make sure that nothing was inside it before handing it to Twilight. "Well?"

Twilight flipped through the book and bit her lip. "There's a lot of stuff I don't understand here, but there's a lot of things I do. This is a powerful book, it might be even something that will help us with our studies!"

"Really? Well, I suppose I shouldn't worry about finding some new spell in here. Lets' go through it and..." Starlight trailed off as the cover began to glow. "Is that supposed to be normal?"

"Don't think so." Gingerly Twilight set down the book, seconds before it lifted itself into the air of its own accord. "Well, this is new."

Spike backed up as the book spun around, seeking a target before it focused onto the portal. Zooming towards it, it placed itself atop Sunset's diary before magic crackled. Long born to magical accidents, the trio jumped behind a table and upturned it as magical power crackled loudly. The portal turned a brilliant silver color, the world lit up with radiant energy.

For a long moment, the glow held as the portal had turned from its normal magenta hue to a silver color. And then, the book floated up once more. "Whoo!" Exclaimed the book and the ponies and one dragon looked at each other. "Ten thousand years will give you such a crick in the neck!"

As the book flexed itself, Starlight looked at Twilight. "I thought today wasn't supposed to be weird day."

"This is not my fault," hissed Twilight as the book was flexing. "Excuse me, Mister Book?"

"Present!" Exclaimed the book. "It's missus by the way. Call me Prishe."

"Prishe. Well, um, what are you? Besides a book," asked Twilight.

"Well... I dunno, all I know is that I'm a tome right now. I'm supposed to wake up when the great calling is happening, but other than that, my memory is hazy. I think I need to lead you people on a quest though." said Prishe, the book twirling in place. "To do this, I need to bring you... ponies, to another world."

"Wait, hold on. What happened to the magic portal that leads to the human world?" asked Starlight. "What happens if someone needs to get in contact with us?"

"Oh yeah, I hadn't thought about that," said Prishe. "Well, no matter."

"No matter she says," groaned Spike. "At least let us inform our friends we're going on a adventure!"

The book exhaled. "Fiiiiiine. Gawd."

=====

"So let me get this straight sugarcube. This book, Prishe, wants to take you on an adventure, just you and Spike, and it doesn't even know what its actually supposed to be doing?" Said Applejack sceptically. "Ah wouldn't go."

"When you put it like that, it sounds dumb doesn't it?" said Twilight, sheepishly.

"I think Applejack has it right. It even changed the mirror portal. Who knows where you'll end up, or as what." Exclaimed Rainbow Dash, folding her hooves in front of her.

"I would err on the side of caution as well, but you did say that the book itself has no bad intentions, just a faulty memory," said Rarity, glancing at the gem-covered book.

"Hey, I didn't say I was evil or anything, I just have a bad memory. I've been stuck in inert mode for 10,000 years!" Protested Prishe. "Besides, it's just a quick jump to the other world."

"Ultimately its up to you to decide on this," said Fluttershy softly. "She said she'd guide you, right?"

"That's right," said Prishe proudly. "And think of what she can learn form me, magic-wise!"

"Ooh, ooh, like conjuring cake from thin air? Or summoning monsters to do her bidding?" Asked Pinkie, bouncing in her chair.

"I dunno if the monster thing I like, but cake is a good idea," said Spike, his stomach rumbling.

"What do you think, Starlight?" asked Twilight.

"I worry that the book is misleading you, but why only you and Spike? I was here too."

"I don't remember," said Prishe, the others turning towards the book with concern. "But I do know is that whoever wrote me, intended for the Princess of Friendship to take this adventure."

"Well she has been saying she's bored out of her mind," said Pinkie helpfully. "Why not?"

"Pinkie I don't think boredom is a reasonable excuse to go to another world," said Twilight, but then realized she did it all the time. "Well..."

"Well if it's all the same to you, I'd rather go along with them, but what if there's that two of us thing going on again?" asked Rainbow Dash. "Twilight even has a double at the school now."

The others nodded in agreement. "Well, this time we have ample time to prepare, so we may as well get Twilight ready fer this adventure." said Applejack. "Ah don't like it but we're not sending her unprepared this time."

"Thanks everypony." said Twilight. "I'll be sure to be careful."

=====

After a few more hours preparation, and much Prishe grumbling, Twilight and Spike were assembled with saddlebags. "All right, are we ready?"

"Ready. As long as I don't turn into a dog again, I'll be fine," said Spike. "Although I did pack some biscuits just in case."

"Ready on my end." Starlight had opted to stay behind, and she was checking the portal. "Mirror Portal is stable. Come back through if you can. If Sunset writes, tell her I've gone on an adventure for the time being."

"Lets goooo already!" Exclaimed Prishe, impatiently. The book was waggling back and forth as Twilight took a step towards the portal. Soon, the pair were stepping through, and Prishe seemed to grin before she followed. The portal hummed but remained stable, as they were flung through the rainbow tunnel.

For a moment, there was darkness before Twilight reflexively lit up the area with a mental command and a flaring of her magic. "Where are we?" asked Spike, having come through the other end with Prishe leading the end of the train.

"I think this is a storage shed," said Twilight, experimentally holding up a hand. "Oh, the magic turned me into a human here."

"Uh, not quite. Your muzzle is still the same," said Spike, indicating her face with a claw. "Look at yourself!"

Looking around, Twilight found a grimy reflective surface. Polishing it with her sleeve, she found a strange mix of human and pony staring her back. "What is this?"

Suddenly, the door opened up and the pair jumped. "What are ye doin' here?" asked a gruff voice. "Someone from the Arcanists guild sent t'clean up in here? What, are they doing chores now?"

"Um..." Twilight peered at the giant in the door before he shook his head.

"Bloody daft, sending venturers to clean now. Well, hop to it. I ain't got all day." The towering man started pulling things out of the room. "This storage place needs to be cleaned up fer tonight. All the stuff in here is to be sent to the Arcanists Guild to be catalogued."

As Twilight began to work, she examined him out of the side of his eye. Spike was much smaller and he darted up into her backpack, as she began to lift. He was a swarthy looking man with dark grey skin, white hair and piercing blue eyes but unlike men she knew, he was massive. Standing at least seven feet tall, much taller than any other man she had seen before, with muscles to boot. Dressed in what appeared to be a deckhand's outfit, he was steadily unloading the things there. When he came across the mirror, he peered at it. "Ye clean this up lass? Good job."

"Um, yes I did," said Twilight. "Excuse me, what's your name?"

"Eh? Well it's Hasty Falcon. And you?"

"Twilight Sparkle," said the woman and he finally got a good look at her, almost dropping the books he was handling. "What?"

"Cor! What manner of lady ye be miss?" Asked Hasty Falcon in surprise. "I never saw your people here."

"Um... we're from far away," said Twilight, lying fast. "Very far away."

The answer seemed to satisfy him. "Oh I getcha, from Othard huh? You musta came over with those new Auri blokes. Well, good to see you around here lass. What's your people called?"

"Po...ni." Said Twilight. "It's Poni."

"Like the horse? Cor. Well, hop to it, lass. We're on the clock, and the Venturers Guild pays by the hour."

=====

"That's the last of them!" Exclaimed Hasty as he and Twilight piled the last of the items in the Arcanists Guild entrance. "Thanks for the help lass, you've earned your coin. Here."

He handed Twilight a heavy sack of coin as he grinned at her. "See you around lass. And welcome to Limsa Lominsa."

As he walked away, Twilight collapsed onto the table in exhaustion. "That was so rough," she groaned. "If it weren't for my magic...!"

"We done?" asked Spike, poking his head out of the bag. "Now can we get on this adventure?"

"I thought you were bored," grumbled Twilight as a tall woman with light blue skin and red hair walked over. Twilight stood up on shaky knees as she held up a hand.

"At ease, lass," said the woman. "I see Hasty must have mistaken a newcomer to Limsa as one of our Arcanists, even if you are dressed the part. And a exotic one at that. I had thought that the people of Auri were exotic."

She smiled at her. "I am Acting Guildmaster Thubyrgeim, of the Arcanists Guild. I thank you for taking on this adventure even if you weren't assigned it. The one who was, skipped town in search of adventure."

"I'm Twilight Sparkle," said Twilight as Spike poked his head out of the backpack. "And this is Spike."

Thubyrgeim startled in surprise at the sight of Spike. "My stars, a dragon!"

"Yep, born and raised." said Spike happily.

Recomposing herself, Thubyrgeim nodded. "From your exotic appearance, you are a race of man I can see that. However, the Ishgardians will regard you with suspicion that you have a dragon familiar. Even if it is a dragon of another land. Even now, I hear they are in conflict with the Auri who landed in their lands over a perceived slight."

"Oh. So people don't like dragons here?" asked Twilight as Spike looked like someone kicked his puppy. "I'd hate to have Spike hide. He's family."

"We can arrange that you will be well protected in Limsa." said Thubyrgeim. "Now, to your needs. What have you come to the town for?"

"Well that's the thing..." Biting her lip, Twilight explained her situation as she held up the book. "Prishe, the book said that we had to go to this world. For whatever reason I don't know."

"How curious," said the Guildmaster. "A quest with no end goal in sight." She shook her head. "There's much to be said about undertaking such a quest."

"Originally we were supposed to go back through the portal, but now that it's in your possession we need to make sure it stays there," said Twilight. "I have to admit, this isn't something I'm used to. Having no goal in sight."

"Indeed. Can I see your friend, the tome I mean?" Asked Thubyrgeim.

Handing the book to her, she read through it as it opened up to a page. Reading through it, Thubyrgeim nodded. "It seems that your journey is of exploration. The writer of this book hints towards the items we call Job Crystals. You need to find these people who hold them, and make contact."

"So vague," said Twilight with a shake of her head. "Where can I find these people?"

"Well. It just so happens that I know where a particular student of Arcana went." Thubyrgeim smiled. "Go up to the upper floor and there is a man named Alka Zolka. He knows where the Adventurer with the Scholar Crystal would be."

=====

Questioning the Marauders of Alka Zolka's whereabouts lead to Twilight finding a small man hunched over a thick dusty tome. For a moment, she was confused as men this small were not familiar to her. Was he a child of some sort? No, his age seemed to belay any youth under the age of 15. And yet... He was rounded, with short stubby arms and legs. He reminded her of a potato, but his expression was determined as he flipped through the musty tome.

Twilight cleared her throat as Alka didn't look up. "Yes, can I help you? I'm in the middle of studying this tome."

"Alka Zolka? My name is Twilight Sparkle, and I was hoping to ask you a question or two." Said Twilight.

Looking up, Alka startled, jumping up to his short feet. "Goodness me girl, I was surprised there for a moment! I hadn't realized a newcomer to these shores was here much less in company of a lizard."

"Dragon, not lizard, I don't do that tongue thing," said Spike irritably, even if he did so.

"Hmm hmm... and what would a girl dressed as a Summoner ask of me?" asked Alka.

"I was actually looking for information. I'm on a quest Mr. Zolka, and I need to find your friend, the Adventurer girl with the Scholar crystal."

"Ah yes, Moondancer," said Alka. "She looked surprisingly like you, but with thick glasses. A powerful Arcanist, and she took to the healing and tactics of Scholars quite well."

"Do you know where she went?" asked Twilight. "It's important we find her."

"Well..." Alka made a face. "Last I heard, she was in Gridania, in the accompaniment of another girl like yourself. A "mare" was it? Named Sunset Shimmer. Another one of the newcomers to these shores."

"I see." Twilight tried not to be too surprised. After long discussion with Sunset, she had determined there must be alternate reality versions of everyone out there, including herself after what she had seen. "How long of a trip is it to Gridania?"

"Oh not long at all, just a few hours by airship," said Alka. "She's a fine girl, that Moondancer. It seems like she likes the taste of adventure Eorzea brings to the newcomers. If you go to the Drowning Wench, you can speak with Baderon about getting a airship pass.

"Then we'll get going. Thank you for your time, Mr. Zolka."

"Take care. And do watch yourself. Gridania is home to many newcomers from Ishgard. They will not take kindly to someone whom they deem a thrall to dragons." Said Alka. "Not that I believe it myself. The thought of dragons mindwashing the masses is lunacy. Not with the Warrior of Light stirring up her troubles in the city."

What Alka said made sense, and yet, Twilight felt a pang of worry. If they got too close to this Ishgard, would Spike be in danger?

As they headed out, Spike sighed. "That's the second time that someone's mentioned dragons and how dangerous it is. Maybe I should hide in your backpack, Twilight."

"Maybe, but I would feel bad about it. C'mon, lets go ask around..." A flash of violet caught her eye as a woman with long violet hair was standing in the crowd, dressed in a simple if fashionable outfit. "Rarity...?"

"Where?" Asked Spike, looking around and then alighting on the woman. "That does look like Rarity. You don't suppose...?"

"Lets ask. It couldn't hurt, right?"

The pair followed the woman down the walk towards the large tower in the middle of town. As they entered the room, a hand shot out of the darkness and grasped Twilight, dragging her into the shadows. Spike made to grab a leg in alarm, and a shine of a dagger could be seen. Twilight's breath hitched in alarm as a familiar voice intoned in their ear. "That's far enough darling. Why are you following me?"

"I..." Gasped out Twilight, the woman's grip on her shoulder like iron.

"Calm down Rarity, they ain't trouble," drawled another familiar voice as Rarity let go. "Put yer stabbers away." A familiar face, similar to the one they knew in Equestria and the Human World pushed up her Stenson. "Sorry bout that. Doman girls get pretty worked up."

"I do not," said Rarity as she placed her daggers away. Both women were of the same race that Twilight was, that curious blend of half human and half pony. "Apologies darling, but when I noticed you were following me, I assumed the worst."

"I'm fine," said Twilight. "Spike, you can let go of her leg."

Spike looked down and sheepishly withdrew his claws. "Sorry."

"Quite alright sugarcube. I'm Applejack, and this is Rarity." Applejack wore hard looking armor and she had a axe slung over her shoulder. Her familiar hat topped the ensemble. "I'm guessing you came on the boat too huh? I hadn't seen you around our village before."

"I'm Twilight. And I'm from the city," said Twilight. "You said there's more of us?"

"Many of us," said Rarity. "You really are out of touch darling. Most of us came over on the boats months ago. The majority of us are living in Revenants Toll."

"I see." Looking at the pair, she sighed. "I need to get going, nice meeting you. I'm going to Gridania and I need to talk to that Baderon fellow about getting an airship pass."

"You take care then, sugar." Said Applejack as she turned to Rarity. "We're just waiting for our third member to join up before we head on out."

Nodding, Twilight continued through the crowded room. It was a tavern with three open air venues as she made her way to the front. There was a couple of people talking to a man whom she supposed was the innkeep. As they headed off, Twilight walked up. "Excuse me, sir? I'm looking for a man named Baderon."

"Ye found em, lass," said Baderon. "Welcome to the Drowning Wench. Am I guessing yer a new venturer?"

"Well, not really... but we are on a quest." said Twilight.

"We're trying to find a woman named Moondancer," said Spike. "Have you heard of her?"

"Cor, that a dragon?" Baderon squinted at Spike before chuckling. "I never figured that dragons cross the seas could talk like a child o'man. All right, lass, ye've got me attention. Aye, I know Moondancer, and her friend Shimmer. They went to Gridania on me behest. They're planning on do some work fer me counterpart in Gridania, Mother Miounne."

Baderon gestured towards Rarity and Applejack who had taken up a chair while waiting for their companion. "I was askin' these two lasses if they wanted to do some work fer her as well."

"That's all well and good, but it's important that I speak with Moondancer. Is it possible to get an airship pass?"

Baderon whistled. "Fraid not lass. Airship travel is strictly regulated an' passes aren't cheap. You can get a trip there, but you need coin t'board."

"Is this enough?" Asked Twilight, removing the small sack of coins from her pouch and handing it to him.

Baderon took it, inspecting the amount before shaking his head. "Fraid not lass. This will get ye a bed an' all tonight, but it won't be enough for the airship fee."

At her expression, Baderon sighed. "I must be getting soft. Tell you what lass. Go approach those two younguns that look like ye. And tell them Baderon would like th' three of you to work together. There's a little issue we've been havin' with pirates in Satasha. I'd like ye t'clear em out fer us. If ye do that, I'll pay fer your trip."

"Well... if it'll pay for our trip, then I don't see the problem," said Twilight thoughtfully. "What do you think, Spike?"

"Well, it's something right?" said Spike. "Thanks mister."

"That's the first time a dragon's thanked me. I can toss it off me bucket list." Laughed Baderon.

Walking over to the pair, Applejack waved at the pair. "Howdy y'two. Care fer a pint?"

"Actually..." said Twilight. "We need your help."

As she explained everything to them, Rarity folded her hands in thought. "So you need our help, and we'll get your help in this little pirate problem, is that it?"

"Yes. I'm pretty good at magic, but I need your help to clear out the pirates. Is that a problem?" Asked Twilight.

"Aw shucks, ah don't mind, what do you think Rarity?" asked Applejack.

"Well, we'll certainly have to wait for the fourth member of our little party before setting out. Where is she anyhow?" Asked Rarity.

"She's probably getting food for that finicky rabbit of hers." said Applejack. "Twilight I know you're new in town, but this'll get you a nice feel for the area. Mind going down to the main part of town and ask around Hawker's Alley fer Fluttershy? She's a pink haired mare with white robes."

"Got it."

=====

"Go here, go there, talk to this person, sheesh," groaned Spike. "This is more tedious than anything I've ever done!"

"Well it's almost over." After finding a few people who had seen Fluttershy, she found her sitting at the Fisherman's Guild docks with a small flock of little critters around her. Like the others said, she was dressed in white, a staff of gold and white stone set beside her. "Excuse me?"

Fluttershy jumped and turned, her curtain of pink hair obscuring half of her face. "Yes?" She asked quietly.

"Sorry to interrupt, but your friends are looking for you," said Twilight. "Are you all right?"

"Mmm, I'm fine," said Fluttershy.

"Oh. Well, are you going to head up to them? They're waiting for you at the Wench." said Twilight. Thinking quickly, she added, "I've been added to your group. I'm Twilight Sparkle."

"I'm Fluttershy." This being the third go-around, Twilight expected the mumbled reply.

Realizing this was his cue, Spike waved. "And I'm Spike."

"A baby dragon!" Twilight neatly sidestepped the lunging tackle. "Oh you're so cute!"

"Yeah I get that a lot," said Spike, pleased with the results. Same old Fluttershy.

"I'll let the two of you talk if you come up to the Wench with us. Your friends are waiting." said Twilight, temping Fluttershy with the promise to listen to Spike's life story. Again.

"That would be nice. Okay, it's a deal." And she picked up Spike, and he grinned.

As Spike and Fluttershy chatted, Twilight reached down and picked up Prishe from her mount. "Prishe, is this all of this needed?"

"Duh," whispered Prishe back. "This is totally Adventurer 101."

"But I have a task!" Exclaimed Twilight hotly. "Why do I have to do all of this?"

"Because its cool," said Prishe simply. "And you have no reputation in this world. Why wouldn't you do things to build it up? Speaking of which, memorize this spell."

And Prishe flipped several pages over to a spell. "It's called Ruin. You'll need it."

Returning to the Wench, Rarity smiled as she stood up. "There you are! Are you two ready to go?"

"We'll catch the ferry to Aleport, and then take a nap before going. Stocking up, well, you got everything right Shy?" asked Applejack. Fluttershy nodded. "Good. So, Twilight, what do you need before we head out? I see your equipment is pretty good, but do you need medicines or food?"

"Well... I guess a bit of that will help," said Twilight. "I have some food in my backpack though."

"Best not to run out then of medicines," said Rarity. "I was eyeing those Mithril knives but darling those prices."

"Market Board Gougers," grumbled Applejack. "Lets get moving then."

=====

The trip to Aleport was easy enough with the seas calm. It had been the first time Twilight had been on a boat before, and she could see Limsa Lominsa in the distance as they pulled up. Rarity had changed as well, dressing in a dark violet outfit with knives sheathed along the legs and waist, giving her the image of some kind of thief or rogue. She called herself a ninja, and what that entailed for Twilight she would soon find out.

"The Seagrot isn't far from here," said Applejack as she stepped away from a Yellowjacket, one of the guards. "Just an hour's walk from the entrance of the entrance to Aleport. From there, it's all straight forward. Y'all ready?"

The group nodded and soon, they were off, walking up the landscape. Twilight took note of the barren trees and the browned grass and asked, "What happened here?"

Rarity and Applejack shared a confused look while Fluttershy provided the answer. "Bahamut happened. His flames scorched this land, and turned it into a near-inhospitable area to live in."

"Y'sure are out of touch," said Applejack, concerned. "Why wouldn't you know about the moon fallin' and the big ol' dragon coming out of it?"

"There's a reason for that," grumbled Spike as they continued northward. When he refused to speak about it for now, Twilight cleared her throat.

"It's not really an issue, we'll be fine. So, what's this Seagrot like anyhow?"

"Cold, wet, not really a place I'd like to be in if you get my drift, darling," said Rarity with a shake of her head. "However, the case may be is that we're looking at pirates who have potentially moved in after it was cleared out by the Warrior of Light several months ago."

Nearing the entrance, the cave loomed open as a Yellowjacket stood at the entrance, guarding it with several others standing around. "Hail, Adventurers," said one of them, raising her hand. To Twilight's surprise she had feline features, with a pair of cat ears sticking out of her helmet, and a long bushy tail. "Are you the ones sent by Baderon?"

"We are," said Applejack. "We'll take care of your pirate problem in no time."

The Miqo'te woman nodded, before noticing Twilight. "Summoner, did you forget your Eigi?"

"My what?" asked Twilight, causing everyone to look at her cross-eyed. "Your Eigi," repeated the Yellowjacket. "Your familiar?"

"Um... I don't have one?" said Twilight.

"You don't have an Eigi? What kind of Summoner are you, darling?" asked Rarity.

"Hey, stop putting pressure on Twilight," protested Spike, drawing attention to himself. "She can't help it, there's a lot of things we haven't really gotten used to."

"Maybe we should hold off, if our Summoner can't perform properly..." said Applejack, pausing as Fluttershy made a noise. "Fluttershy?"

"I think we should give her a chance," said Fluttershy. "Even if she doesn't even have a Carbuncle we can help her along..."

"Fluttershy..." said Twilight, relieved she had someone on her side.

"Well darling, if Fluttershy likes you then I guess its settled," chuckled Rarity. Turning to the Yellowjacket, she said, "We'll do fine. There's five of us."

"If you say so," said the Yellowjacket, letting them pass. "Though letting an unskilled Adventurer go out without even a Carbuncle is madness..." she muttered, loud enough for Twilight to wince at the tone.

=====

The inside of Satasha had seen better days. While the interior was covered in luminous coral and sparkling lights, Applejack lead the party into the first room which was a cave with sparkling algae and luminescent lights. "Not much has changed," she said, "Maybe a bit though. Rarity?"

"I'll be right back, darling." Rarity vanished in a cloud of smoke and Twilight blinked.

"How did she do that?" asked Twilight.

"Rarity is a Ninja," supplied Fluttershy. "She can scout ahead while we move through the cave."

“I see.” She didn’t see. “So, Satasha huh? What’s the deal with this place?”

“The Satasha Seagrot was infested with pirates a year ago,” said Applejack. “Those varmints stole people’s livelihood, and often their lives.”

“They murdered them?” Gasped Twilight.

”Murdered, pillaged, raped, Eorzea needs Adventurers to take these terrible people out. The worst part is when they’re in league with a Primal, then it’s a fate worse than death.” Said Applejack, her expression dark.

“A Primal is a god, usually to the beastmen tribes.” Said Fluttershy. “They fear the power of Man, and any threats. To feel safe, they call upon the gods to protect them, and the gods answer with feverish prayer and crystals.”

In the silence that followed as Twilight digested the statement, they were waiting for a few minutes before Rarity faded back into view. "Two groups of three pirates, all with octopi on their heads," she reported. "I slit one up on the way in when he got too close. Fortunately he didn't raise the alarm."

Twilight turned a little green. "Slit one up as in... you killed him?"

"Well yes, that is the intent," said Rarity, flicking green goo from her knives. "Don't look so surprised, darling. That's what we're here for."

"Can't we just negotiate with them?" asked Twilight, feeling a little unsettled. Applejack turned to look at her.

"Look, sugarcube, ah don't like it either, but these are vicious criminals. And even then, they won't obey the law and let us capture any of them." said Applejack. "Besides, they're all tempered too, aren't they, Rarity?"

"They are," said Rarity with a nod of her head. "They were burbling about Lord Leviathan."

Yet another word that Twilight didn't recognize and she was certain that burbling wasn't one of them. Fortunately Fluttershy supplied the explanation. "When a person is tempered, they become slaves to a Primal. And then they won't stop offering prayers to them. People have been kidnapped and tempered as offerings to the Primals. Leviathan is the god of the Sahagin, and he is capable of drowning entire settlements along the coast."

"How terrible..." Twilight exhaled. "If we can get through with minimal fighting, is that fine? I can't be certain if I can... kill someone I mean."

"That's fine. It never gets easier, darling. But we all know this." Rarity nodded. "I'll scout ahead, and incapacitate most of them. That'll leave the path open. And then we can bar the door."

"Sounds like a plan," said Applejack. "Three minutes, Rarity. And then we come charging in."

Rarity nodded, and vanished once more. Three long tense minutes passed as Twilight consulted Prishe’s notes on Ruin and continued on to Bio and Miasma. The collapsing lungs part was a nice, if morbid touch, but soon Rarity reappeared.

“The way is clear, but there’s a giant sea scorpion at the bottom of the path.”

“That’s where I come in,” said Applejack, shouldering her weapon which was a massive axe. “All right, everyone stick to the plan.”

The trip down was quiet, as they crept through the Seagrot. If they weren’t there to kill everything in sight, Twilight would have loved to study the area. Rarity and Applejack seemed determined enough as the beast was lurking at the bottom, pacing restlessly. Fluttershy murmured a incantation as prismatic diamond shaped shields sprung up around everyone. “All right, on three. I’ll get its attention.” Said Applejack, moving into position.

One. Two. Three. And then Applejack suddenly burst into what appeared to be crimson flames as she charged the monster, moving faster than expected in a bolt of crimson light. She slammed bodily into the scorpion, driving it backwards as Rarity vanished and reappeared on its head, driving her daggers into its head.

Twilight snapped into action, casting Ruin into the side of its head, as the monster contended with Applejack who fended of its massive claws with her axe. Flipping up and over, Rarity leaped high as she brought her finger together into a set of symbols as lightning crackled overhead and crashed down.

There was a yelp from Applejack but she endured, as Fluttershy brought her staff up. “Cure!” She exclaimed, glowing light forming across Applejack, healing her wounds.

The monster however, suddenly turned towards Fluttershy as she squeaked. It brought up its tail as it spun it around, and a tornado formed under Fluttershy’s feet.

“Look out!” Fluttershy was suddenly pushed away from Twilight who had lunged at her, pushing her away from the tornado. However, she was hurled into the air and landed with a heavy thud.

“Twilight!” Exclaimed Spike, emerging from her backpack. His eyes flashed angrily as he inhaled and breathed a cone of flame. Small, but big enough to send the monster keening to the side.

“Heal her! We need all the help we can get!” Exclaimed Applejack, as she contended with the monster, axe clashing with the beast as Rarity chipped at its armor from behind.

Fluttershy nodded as she rushed over to Twilight’s side and laid her hands on her. “Benediction!” Holy light flared as Shy’s strongest healing spell took hold, and Twilight sat up.

“WHOA!” Exclaimed Twilight. “How did you…?”

”No time, please help the others!” Exclaimed Fluttershy. “We need your help!”

“But I barely have any spells, I don’t…”

‘Awaken Me…’

At the soft voice, everything seemed to go quiet for a moment as Rarity was thrown off the monster, and Applejack was driven into the wall. The monster raised its stinger, and Twilight let go.

Lightning crashed as energy poured off Twilight, and with a great cry, a massive horse with a ornate horn erupted from the ground. Twilight was suspended in light, as Ixion rose to to meet its summoners call.

“SWEET KAMI!” Screamed Rarity as Ixion challenged the monster, and the monster turned its attention to the stormhorse. The two met, crashing and hooves and claw slamming once another as Ixion’s body crackled with incredible light.

With a loud neigh, the Primal took hold of the creature, and with a final blow, everything erupted into thunder. The thunder crackled along the Seagrot, electrifying enemies for malms as everything perished its storm. But the lightning did not touch the Summoner, or her Allies as everything grew quiet.

The Seagrot smoked as Ixion moved towards Applejack and her team, and Applejack held up her axe in challenge. But the Primal chuckled, a horse’s whinny as it nudged Twilight in the cheek.

Slowly, the pillar of light faded as Twilight regained her senses. “What’s going on?” She asked, looking up at the being in front of them. “Princess Celestia?”

Ixion seemed to smile, and then, without fanfare, dissolved into aether which scattered to the winds.

Silence, and the smell of smoked fish was in the air as Rarity said, “A Primal Summoner, one with such enormous aether, they can call on the very Primal itself.”

”Ah’ve never seen that before, or heard of it. A unicorn no less.” Said Applejack as Twilight leaned on Fluttershy. “How in the world did you manage to do that?”

“I don’t know, I just heard a voice. Awaken Me.” Said Twilight. “I… I’m sorry, just I needed to help and…”

”Everything’s all right.” Said Fluttershy. “We’re all alive and that matters.”

“Still, someone needs to check the rest of the Seagrot. Before anyone manages to find out that our new friend can call the gods to her side, and manage to avoid getting everyone in a twenty malm radius Tempered.” Said Applejack.

“I’ll do it.” Said Rarity. “Keep an eye on our friend here.”

=====

“There’s that novice summoner…”

“Destroyed the Seagrot in a single go…”

“They say she called upon a Primal.”

“Maybe she’s tempered, that would explain it…”

“Thrall of the Dravanians maybe, she carries a drake with her…”

The murmuring of the people of Aleport made Twilight shrink in on herself, as Fluttershy stood guard over her. Returning to the small coastal town and explaining what had happened, the Yellowjackets had asked, politely, if Twilight would surrender herself into custody until an investigation was finished.

Applejack stood guard over the door, and Rarity glanced from window to window. Both were closed, for the moment. But the uneasy mutterings of the people of the local town could be heard through the walls.

Twilight wished she had way to talk to Prishe on what happened, but due to the terms of her custody, she was not allowed her Summoners Tome, and instead, she and Spike were sitting in the corner quietly.

Fluttershy offered a timid smile as she said, “Thanks for saving me, Twilight.”

“I just did what I had to,” said Twilight. “You’re my friend, and…” She caught herself on the statement. While Fluttershy bore some resemblance, Twilight had to remind herself that there wasn’t anything that could make them friends, for now.

Soon however, the door opened up as a man strode inside, followed by two others; a tall, grey skinned woman in a black jacket and the assistant Arcanist’s Guild leader. The tall woman in black wore two pistols at her side, and the Yellowjackets stood at attention. So did Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy.

”So,” said the woman in black. “You are the summoner from another star, am I correct?”

“Uh… yes, I am.” Said Twilight, uncertain of where this was going. “I apologize for any problems I’ve caused; it was not my intent to cause such a fuss.”

The woman took a report and held it up. “Two whole crews of tempered men dead. A seagrot rendered uninhabitable due to electrical damage, and a kraken seared to ash. You’ve been busy, for a woman who hasn’t been causing trouble.”

Twilight shrunk in on herself as the woman made a expression before turning to Applejack. “You were the leader of the group, am I correct?”

“Yes Admiral,” replied Applejack, and Twilight looked up in surprise. “Ah was reluctant to take her on, but she has a good heart, and meant well. She saved the White Mage of our group as well.”

“Indeed. If it weren’t for her actions, I would imagine you and your party would be food for a sea scorpion by now.” Looking up, the woman introduced herself. “I am Admiral Merlwyb Bloefhiswyn, I am the Admiral and leader of the Maelstrom. Summoner from another star, if you were wholly unaware of the consequences of summoning a Primal to your aid, I would be more lenient. However, your comrades informed me of them telling you what that entails.”

Twilight shrunk into her corner, biting her lips as Spike spoke up. “But it’s not Twilight’s fault! She didn’t realize she could summon a Primal, she didn’t know she could summon at all!”

“Indeed, which is why I am granting clemency.” Said Merlwyb, impressed by the young drake’s defence of his master. Or perhaps his spirit, it was hard to tell despite the devilish expression on her face. “Princess Twilight, of the star known as Equestria, you did the right thing by telling the leader of our Arcanist’s guild your tale, lest you be put to the sword for a threat larger than our nation.” She nodded towards Thubyrgeim who smiled at Twilight. “She has contacted Foreseer K’lyhia, a member of our company who has set it upon herself to study your magic mirror. She has also passed through it, and has apparently startled several members of your world with her knowledge of geometrics. That being said, we do not wish to anger a nation, even one filled with pastel ponies. A military power is still a military.”

Twilight breathed a deep sigh of relief. “I am thankful you said that. I was afraid I did the wrong thing.”

“Do not mistake this as a leniency, Princess.” Said Merlwyb sternly. “You are here as a guest, and thus due to your actions, missives have been sent to the three other Grand Companies of Eorzea, though I believe the Ishgardians will be slow upon responding. You will be in the care of your party members, where upon you will be allowed to continue your tasks at hand, however vague they may be. We only ask that you refrain from summoning a Primal within the environs of our nation’s capitals, or not summon at all. As you will be dealing with a small group dedicated to exterminating the Primal threat when it arises.”

Holding out a small package to Applejack, the Admiral continued. “You will travel to Gridania, as per your request. However, this unknown summoning power of yours requires close monitoring. Your party will accompany you along on your journey to find these things you require. But know this: if you bring disaster upon our star, there will be retribution in blood.”

Twilight swallowed. “I’ll be careful. Thank you for understanding Admiral.”

Merlwyb’s expression softened for just a moment. “Your contacts are Thancred and Y'shtola of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn. They have requested to meet outside in the Eastern Shroud, at a place called the Hawthorne Hut. I trust you will make your way there swiftly?”

“Aye Admiral,” said Applejack, saluting. Merlwyb nodded in reply.

“Navigator light your path then. Take your charter, the airship leaves from Limsa Lominsa in an hour.” With that, Merlwyb stepped out of the room, and a notable tenseness left in her wake.

Fluttershy sighed a little, relaxing. “No matter how many times I meet with the Admiral, the more I feel unnerved by her intenseness. I don’t know how you do it, Applejack, being enlisted in her Grand Company.”

Applejack smiled weakly before she said, “It’s nothing sugarcube, just doing my job. Now then, let’s get on that boat, before any ugliness starts up.”

”Indeed. I’ll make sure our way is clear.” Said Rarity, vanishing into a cloud of smoke.

Applejack turned towards Twilight and sighed. “Look, we’re put together for a reason apparently, and I don’t want too much trouble. If you have to summon, just summon over there?”

“I’ll try,” said Twilight as a burly man returned Prische to her.


	9. Variation 1.1: To That I Say No Thank You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The mystery deepens from the first tale, as Dr. Fluttershy finds the story goes deeper than before.

Variation 1.1: To That I Say No Thank You

=====

“Everything checks out normal.” said Fluttershy M.D. as she patted Apple Bloom on the head with a wing. “You’re free to go.”

“Thanks doc,” replied Apple Bloom. “Ah honestly don’t know what happened there.”

“Well, the problem was that weird digital virus and you seemed to deal with it just fine.” said Rainbow Dash, who was sitting in the corner with a magazine. “Fluttershy totally whomped it, I mean, uh… she dealt with it.”

Apple Bloom nodded. “So any idea what it was?”

“They called it a Bugster Virus,” said Pinkie thoughtfully. “I’m not too sure what’s going on there, but they said it was some kind of new strain. Apparently it turns people into monsters.”

“Or at least tries to anyhow.” added Fluttershy. “I wonder what’s the cause of the virii multiplication?”

The three mulled it over for a moment as Apple Bloom looked between the girls. “Well ah dunno about you three ,but the farm needs help, an’ my big sister is coming on the next train over.”

“Oh right, go ahead Apple Bloom.” said Fluttershy.

As she washed up her hooves and wings, Fluttershy turned to her friends. “So… what now? That other surgeon hasn’t arrived and--”

A knock at the door cut through Fluttershy’s statement as a small violet head popped it’s way through the open door. “Excuse me? Hi, Dr. Twilight Sparkle,” said Twilight, drawing looks from the others. “I’m here from Canterlot?”

“Wait… what?” Pinkie was immediately atop the smaller mare as she looked her over critically.

“Something wrong?” asked Twilight as Pinkie tilted her head.

“Do you have an older sister who looks like you but bigger and with wings?” asked Pinkie rapidly.

“Nooooo? I have an older brother who is in the military though,” said Twilight as Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy looked at each other.

“That’s so weird,” chorused the trio as Fluttershy cleared her throat. “In any case, welcome Dr. Sparkle. We’re just in time, to discuss a new strain of virii that has infected the area.”

“New strain? I’m a surgeon, I don’t do viral infections?” echoed Twilight, confused.

“So you don’t have that weird neon green thing and the game, right?” said Rainbow Dash.

“Nooooo?” The trio looked at each other and at Twilight who shrank a little under the combined glances. “Can you explain to me what’s going on?” demanded Twilight.

“Well it’s like this…” said Fluttershy.

“There’s a weird techno-magic strain of virii going around that manages to infect a pony and turn them into a monster and another pony who looks a lot like you turns into a armored Kamen Rider in order to do battle with it!” Exclaimed Pinkie in a rush.

“What she said,” said Rainbow Dash, twirling a lock of hair around with a wingtip.

“.... that’s really what’s going on?” asked Twilight, bewildered.

“Yep,” replied the three in unison.

=====

“Our facility is pretty small, but we’ve prepared a operating theatre for you.” said Fluttershy, showing Twilight the facilities when they had brought Twilight up to speed on the sudden weirdness of their lives hitting critical. “I hope it’s to function.”

Looking into the room, Twilight nodded. “At a glance, I can see the care for it. You know, I was worried, coming over to Ponyville General.”

“Why’s that?” asked Fluttershy curiously as she and Twilight moved on from the door.

“When I heard I was going to work with Dr. Fluttershy, the legendary medical examiner who went from professional gamer to doctor in less than six years, I was shocked and amazed. I mean, I’m Princess Celestia’s student and I never made it through that quickly.” said Twilight with a little blush and admiring look at the taller pegasus. “How’d you do it?”

“I just had a knack for it, and it’s not like I can’t manage stress…” Fluttershy stopped short as her eyes went wide. “Stress…!”

“What about stress?” asked Twilight curiously.

“Stress must be it,” said Fluttershy, as she elaborated. “Apple Bloom said she had been stressed out before she got infected, and then the monster materialized. Stress is a multiplicator of many diseases, so why not a digital one?”

“You’re saying a stress filled lifestyle might result in someone being infected by this Bugster virus?” asked Twilight. “That’s…”

“And with the Summer Sun Celebration coming, who knows what kind of craziness might be born from it. We could have a pandemic on our hooves.” Said Fluttershy.

“Ugh, to that I say No Thank You,” said Twilight with a face. “We need a way to contain the virus before anyone else needs to be operated on.”

“But how?” asked Fluttershy. “It’s not like we could throw a safety net over the whole town…”

The two doctors made similar faces, Twilight’s expression scrunched up in thought and Fluttershy’s with a frustrated expression. “We need to figure something out,” said Fluttershy with a shake of her head. “We’re the only ponies in town that are informed about this situation.”

“What about that other me?” asked Twilight. “The one Pinkie Pie asked about?”

“She’s… somewhere,” said Fluttershy. “I don’t know where she went.”

As the two pondered, Nurse First Aid came into the room, holding a large briefcase. “Ah, Doctor Sparkle, there you are.” said First Aid. “There’s a delivery for you.”

“For me?” asked Twilight, taking the case and opening it up cautiously. Inside, there was a green device that Fluttershy noticed, as well as a black gashat. “What’s this?” asked Twilight, looking at the game.”

“That’s Bang Bang Shooting, a first person shooting game that has been in development hell for years!” Exclaimed Fluttershy. “I remember my brother Zephyr being really excited for it before Glimmer Co declared it to be on an ongoing hiatus. Is the package from there?”

“Seems like it,” said First Aid. “A pony in a suit dropped it off at the front desk, and said it was for Twilight.”

“This may be timing then,” said Fluttershy with a shake of her head. “Somepony is predicting the outbreaks. This might be the start of our counteroffensive against the disease.”

“But why me?” asked Twilight. “I’m just a surgeon. I’m not actually good with games.”

“I don’t know. For now, take it with you, and we’ll figure out something later.” said Fluttershy. Twilight nodded and pocketed the game and the driver into her lab coat.

=====

The train had just pulled into the station as Rarity awaited a passenger, who turned out to be a mare in a trendy dress with her mane in delicate curls. “It’s so good to see you again darling!” Exclaimed Rarity, practically draping herself over Applejack in a friendly hug.

“It’s good to be home, Rarity,” replied Applejack, her old country drawl hidden under a prim and pronounced diction. “But I feel like I haven’t been here in ten years.”

“It has been that long,” replied Rarity as the pair disengaged from their hug and Applejack took her bags in her teeth. “Darling, how has the fundraising been?”

“Fairly good,” replied Applejack with a smile as the pair headed down towards Rarity’s home. “It’s stressful but rewarding. We’ve gotten a lot of business in investing in charities and cultural benefits.”

“And the homestead?” asked Rarity curiously.

“I send Granny money every month. It’s enough to contribute to what I don’t on the farm,” replied Applejack, a hint of her country accent slipping through in her wistful statement. “Thanks for putting me up for the weekend Rarity.”

“Of course darling but I’d rather you visit the house.” said Rarity. “Your little sister and big brother have been wanting to know if you will come and visit.”

“I don’t feel like it’s a good idea,” said Applejack with a downcast expression. “I left when Apple Bloom was just a tiny foal, and Big Mac, well, he never replies to my letters. I feel like putting them through my returning when I’ve been in Manehatten for years might put stress on the family.”

“Well, it is your call darling. But you can’t avoid them forever.” Said Rarity as she opened the door to her boutique.

“I know that.” said Applejack as she went upstairs. “Can I go get changed? I’d like to slip into something a little more… rustic.”

“Of course darling. Your room is just down the hall.” said Rarity. Applejack nodded and headed down, as Rarity sighed.

“If only you knew how much they miss you, Applejack,” said Rarity. “And so do I.” She winced as a sharp pain lanced through her head and stumbled a little. “I need to get these migraines worked on.”

Soon, after Rarity got herself a pair of Tylenol and Applejack returned in a country style dress and her old cowboy hat, Rarity giggled at the sight. “Why don’t you look like the most prim country girl, Applejack?”

“Ah shucks Rarity,” drawled Applejack. “It’s a chance fer me to let my hair down a little.”

The pair shared a laugh as Rarity said, “Why don’t we go out today? Berry Punch’s place. We should probably…”

Rarity trailed off as another pain lanced through her head and she collapsed, much to Applejack’s shock. “Rarity!” Exclaimed Applejack as she ran over and checked Rarity’s pulse. 

Strange orange blobs appeared on Rarity’s neck and Applejack recoiled in shock. “What in tarnation?!” Looking around, Applejack put Rarity into the recovery position and then ran over to the phone and dialed the number for the hospital. “I need a doctor at Carousel Boutique, the owner just collapsed!”

=====

“Emergency case,” said First Aid, as Fluttershy and Twilight looked up. “They’re reporting strange orange blobs at the patient’s neck.”

“Another case, this is getting worse. Twilight, with me.” said Fluttershy.

Nodding, the pair left the building as a pair watched them go. “C’mon Spike,” said Dr. Sparkle, following behind the pair.

Reaching the door, they were greeted by Applejack. “Thank goodness,” said Applejack in relief as they ran up. “Rarity just collapsed while we were talking.”

“Symptoms?” asked Twilight as Fluttershy checked Rarity over.

“Orange blobs, she also had Tylenol out,” said Applejack. “Is it contagious?”

“Not currently,” said Fluttershy. “If only I had that Driver…”

“To that, I say No Thank You,” said Dr. Sparkle from behind the group. The bigger alicorn stood at the doorway, holding up the stethoscope that was displaying a readout. “Spike?”

“Right here Twilight,” replied Spike as Twilight gaped at her double who held up Taddle Quest.

“Wait, not inside!” Exclaimed Fluttershy, lunging at the game and seizing it in her teeth. “Bring her outside first, this building is her life! If it gets ruined…!”

“Help me out here,” said Twilight to Applejack and the pair started to carefully move Rarity out of the building. “I don’t know what’s going on here but… I won’t let you harm a patient.”

“I’m trying to save her,” replied Dr. Sparkle, her eyes flickering with some unknown pain. She levitated the gashat out of Fluttershy’s mouth and pressed it.

[TADDLE QUEST!]

Immediately, Rarity’s eyes shot open, glowing red as she proclaimed, “This host is mine!” Without warning, Rarity transformed into a giant revolver, pointing at the group.

“Proceeding with Level 1,” replied Dr. Sparkle in response as she slotted in her driver.

“So that’s how you do it,” said Twilight as Dr. Sparkle transformed into the short squat blue Rider. Turning towards Fluttershy, she said, “Dr. Shy, I need to help her.”

Fluttershy nodded. “Take care.”

Twilight nodded as she strapped on the Driver and held out the gashat in her telekinetic grip. “First Tactic. Transform!”

A huge graphic appeared as chest high walls appeared everywhere, with a voice shouting [BANG BANG SHOOTING!] echoed across the area. Slotting in the gashat to the driver, Twilight underwent a transformation, her body covered in mostly black and yellow armor as she landed.

“Kamen Rider… Snipe,” proclaimed Twilight as she rushed in to fight as well, her weapon appearing in her telekinetic grip.

“Ah don’t know what’s happening, but they’re here to help… right?” said Applejack, locking eyes with Fluttershy.

“They are,” said Fluttershy. “I just wish…”

“That you had this?” asked Spike from beside the mare, holding up Mighty Action X and the driver. “Throwing away delicate equipment, geez… what kind of gamer are you? Here.”

Taking the game, the dragon smiled a little. “You’re here to help, right? Do no harm? Well, they need your help.”

“Thank you.” Strapping on her driver, she pressed the gashat. “Transformation Plus!” Exclaimed Fluttershy, transforming straight to Level 2. “I’ll clear this with no continues!”

“Hold on a second,” said Spike as he reached over and changed Fluttershy back to Level 1. “You cannot separate a bugster from the patient unless you’re Level 1.”

“O-oh. That makes sense.” Summoning her Gashacon Breaker, Fluttershy bounced into the fray, bonking the giant gun in the middle of it’s sights.

“Double attack,” suggested Twilight and Fluttershy nodded, hitting their respective weapons. A whine of pitched energy resounded as the pair charged forward, Fluttershy leaping high into the air and coming down on a double footed stomp, while Twilight spun around encased in a bullet styled energy cone. The pair slammed into the bugster as Dr. Sparkle delivered her own slash, cutting the bugster in half.

With a spray of virii everywhere, the bugster separated from Rarity who flickered in and out as a large bipedal bugster with several machinegun wielding smaller bugsters appeared. “So you finally appear, Revol Bugster,” said Dr. Sparkle. “Proceeding with Level 2.”

As Dr. Sparkle transformed, Applejack cradled Rarity’s head against her. “Rarity, y’okay?” she asked quietly.

“Been… ngh, better,” replied Rarity as she took in the scene. “What’s even happening?”

“It’s an operation,” said Applejack as Fluttershy and Twilight threw their buckles open. “But unlike anything I’ve seen.”

“You have to remain calm,” said Spike, walking over and checking her vitals. “Otherwise the stress will overwhelm you, and it’ll be Game Over.”

Cutting down more gun wielding bugsters, Fluttershy double-tapped her weapon as she placed the Gashat into it. [MIGHTY CRITICAL FINISH!] howled the weapon, a sound echoed from the other two sides of the battlefield as Revol clashed with Blade, only to be plowed into by Snipe.

[BANG BANG CRITICAL FINISH!] Announced Twilight’s belt as she leaped into the air. “This’ll finish it!” She exclaimed, bringing down her back hoof into it’s jaw.

The bugster exploded with ferocious heat and wind. However, Blade’s weapon still howled as she cut into thin air and suddenly, Revol faded into view with a huge gash across his front.

[GAME CLEAR!] Announced the game as Taddle Quest completed the attack. “You two,” said Dr. Sparkle. “What are you two doing?”

“We’re taking care of our patients,” replied Twilight. “Who are you? Why do you look like me?”

Dr. Sparkle scoffed as she deactivated her buckle and Twilight gasped at the sight of the alicorn in front of her. “This is my battle,” she said. “Your gashat, give it to me. You can’t defeat a bugster like that.”

“Not without training,” replied Fluttershy, walking over and deactivating her own game. “And Twilight is a good pony. She’s the top surgeon of Canterlot. She knows what she’s doing.”

“Really?” asked Dr. Sparkle, eyeing the pair before scoffing. “We’ll see. For now, you two should focus on the here and now.”

Twilight bit her lip before she nodded. “C’mon Fluttershy. Let’s see to our patient.”

Stepping aside for the mares to check on Rarity, Spike walked over to Dr. Sparkle. “You’re doing it again,” he said as he was levitated onto her back.

“It’s for their own good,” replied Dr. Sparkle as she vanished in a flicker of violet light.

=====

“That other Twilight, who is she?” asked Applejack. “Ah’ve never seen another alicorn before.”

“We don’t know,” said Fluttershy, shaking her head. “It seems she’s trying to solve this crisis on her own.”

“But why?” asked Rarity from her hospital bed, where she insisted on recovering in. “She looks like our new surgeon in town. But she’s so…”

“So cold,” said Twilight softly. “Like I would have been if I hadn’t attended Moondancer’s party months ago.”

“And the dragon, Spike was it? Didn’t you have an assistant with a similar name?” asked Applejack. Twilight nodded.

“He’s at the library right now, setting up everything. Though I wonder… who is she?”

“I can answer that,” said a figure from the doorway as a mare in a stylish suit stood there, a concerned expression on her face. “My name’s Starlight Glimmer, of Glimmer Corp, and I was the one who made you all Kamen Riders.”

=====

SEE YOU NEXT GAME


	10. Variation 9: Time Trippin' Ride

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stewards of time, producer of Apples. Applejack and family have a lot to live up to.

It had been a tense sort of afternoon, after the Apple siblings had returned from their quest to learn more about their parents. When Granny Smith and Grand Pear had made up and the older man moved into the house, things had gotten into those little family squabbles.

“You eat too many apples,” scoffed Grand Pear that morning at breakfast at an all-apple laden meal. “Land sakes, can’t you let me cook once a while Granny?”

“I’m not letting you near my kitchen you old varmint,” scoffed Granny as she worked at the kitchen, spooning up apple pancakes. “You’ll just spoil them with pears.”

“And what’s wrong with that?” asked Grand Pear, returning the bout as the three Apple siblings sighed, realizing a cat fight was in progress. The pair might have made up, but they were always at each other’s throats for one thing or another.

“Ah’m going to school early,” said Applejack, getting up from her breakfast. “Big Mac, can I use the scooter?”

“Ayup,” replied Big Mac as Apple Bloom quickly shoveled her face full of pancake and grabbed her bag.

“Wait up!” She exclaimed thickly, running after Applejack.

Once on the road, Applejack sighed a little. “I love those two but they’re always arguing,” remarked Applejack, pulling up to the stop that would turn into town. “You could have waited for Big Mac.”

“And endure that? No thank you,” scoffed Apple Bloom. “Look sis, I love our grandparents a lot, but I need to deal with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon tormenting me tomorrow.”

“You know Principal Celestia can do something about that,” said Applejack, pulling away.

“It’s my problem,” replied Apple Bloom. “Oh speaking of which, aren’t we supposed to dig up our parents time capsule tomorrow?”

“Yeah. Can’t believe it’s been ten years.” The pair fell to silence as Applejack drove them to school. Ten long years since their parents passed away. Apple Bloom hadn’t even been five years old before their mom died, and their father passed away of heartbreak.

As Applejack pulled into the school, she took her helmet off and said “Huh, Sunset Shimmer’s here.”

Sure enough, the flame patterned motorcycle sat there as Apple Bloom looked over at her sister. “You sure you don’t need me to talk to your friends?” asked Apple Bloom, thinking of how much had changed in the school since Sunset Shimmer got nailed by a giant rainbow laser.

“Naw, it’s okay. You go meet with your friends, and I’ll meet with mine.” said Applejack.

Nodding, Applebloom got off the scooter and handed Applejack her helmet which she stored away. With that, Applejack turned the scooter off and doffed her helmet. Time to go talk to her friends, she supposed as Applejack headed into the school.

Sunset would be in one of her favorite haunts, the art room at this time of day, probably working on a project. Arriving at the door, she exhaled before opening it. “Hey sugarcube,” greeted Applejack.

Sunset Shimmer looked up at her from her painting of the blue sky and a meadow with a bright, if tired smile. “Morning Applejack. It is morning right?”

“You’ve been here all night?” asked Applejack, tilting her head at the flame haired girl.

Sunset yawned, a deep resounding noise before she rubbed her cheek. “Since four. I couldn’t sleep and since I have a key, well…”

“Bad dreams?” Sunset’s dreams ranged the gauntlet from simple friendship dreams to nightmares, a problem she hadn’t encountered in ages.

“No, nothing like that.” said Sunset, dabbing the paint on the oil canvas. “I just got this feeling. Like something big is about to happen.”

“Well, your feelings are pretty spot on, with your magic being all attuned to the nature of minds and hearts.” said Applejack. “Can’t say the same for mine.”

“That’s the thing. It’s not a feeling of wrongness, it’s the feeling of something out of place.”

“Out of place?” asked Applejack. “How exactly?”

“I dunno, and I hate saying that.” said Sunset. “But we’ll face it together, I promise.”

Applejack nodded as she went over and gave her friend a hug. “You’ve ain’t steered us wrong before Sunset, and I won’t stop questioning it now.”

“Thanks Applejack.” Sunset yawned as she hugged back and set down her paint. “I could use a short nap before class, so I’m going to bunk down in the library. See you in homeroom?”

“Sure thing.” said Applejack. “Sleep tight.”

=====

“So bored,” thought Applejack to herself that afternoon during class. Normally she’d be attentive but her mind was on the time capsule that her parents had left them. The day passed slowly, as if time was standing still. Counting down the seconds, Applejack found herself waiting for the day to end when her senses went aflame all of a sudden at the stroke of 2:22. As it something was amiss, she sat up. Across the way, Pinkie Pie stiffened as well, ears perking up. And then, all of a sudden, the sensation passed.

At that moment, the bell rang as Mr. Doodle called out, “Read chapters three to six for tomorrow’s exam!”

Gathering up her books, she went over to Pinkie who exclaimed, “Did you feel that?”

“Ah sure did,” said Applejack. “Like something crawled over me all of a sudden.”

“We should check with the others.” Nodding, the pair made their way to their usual spot, the music room. Barging in, Twilight Sparkle looked up at their rapid entrance. “What’s gotten into you two?” she asked curiously as Rainbow Dash looked up from tuning her guitar.

“You two didn’t feel that?” asked Applejack.

“It was like the skin was crawling on my skin!” Exclaimed Pinkie.

Rainbow and Twilight shared a look, and Rainbow arched an eyebrow. “You sure you two aren’t experiencing a sympathetic thing or whatever?”

“Ah’m telling you, it was like…” Applejack shivered. “I don’t know what to feel, but it felt like something was WRONG.”

“Hmm, we should look into it,” said Twilight. “There’s the final class of the day before school lets out.”

“Sounds like a plan, I’ll go gather the others.” said Rainbow, dashing out the room at superspeed.

After everyone had gathered and the explanation was made, Rarity looked at the pair, head tilted thoughtfully. “Darling, I don’t mean to ask but what’s the link? Only you and Pinkie Pie felt this, right?”

“We’re not sure,” said Pinkie with a deep sigh. “If it was magic, shouldn’t Twilight notice first?”

“I dunno either,” said Twilight ,shaking her head. “There’s nothing we can do right?”

“But if there’s something coming, then we need to be ready for it.” said Sunset, frowning. “Something’s wrong, and I’ve been on edge all day.”

“So we’ve got a mystery, cool,” said Rainbow with a wide grin plastered on her face. “This is going to be AWESOME.”

The door opened at that moment as Big Mac and Apple Bloom stood there. “Hey sis, got a minute?” asked Apple Bloom.

“Yeah, sure I got a moment. What’s up?” asked Applejack, walking over.

“Big Mac just mentioned feeling weird around the same time I did,” said Apple Bloom. “You don’t think it’s sickness do you?”

“... Ah don’t think so,” said Applejack. “Something’s wrong if all of the Apple Family is feeling it.”

“Don’t forget about me,” said Pinkie. “I’m still family too. And I felt it.”

“So whatever this is might be connected to the Apple Family,” said Sunset. “What’s important about today?”

“Well… I remember thinking about the time capsule… that’s it!” Exclaimed Applejack. “The time capsule must have something weird in it. I mean think about it.”

“Well… it’s a possibility,” said Fluttershy. “I mean, if such an important date is coming up…”

“We should go dig it up. It’s buried out front in the school right? I’ll go tell Principal Celestia about it.” said Apple Bloom, running out the door.

“What do you think it could be?” asked Rarity. “Some kind of device?”

“It might be Equestrian Magic,” said Sunset. “We don’t know how long magic’s actually been in this world. Some could have leaked over when Starswirl banished the Sirens here.”

“Maybe it’s some kind of amazing power,” said Pinkie. “I mean, we just got our geodes and they get stronger when they’re being used.”

“Maybe, but it doesn’t affect how off I feel,” said Sunset. “Let’s get that thing dug up then.”

=====

Locating the spot hadn’t taken more than five minutes and soon, the group were crowded around the capsule: a tin box with a latched lid. Taking out a key, Applejack opened the lock. “Okay, here goes.”

Opening it up, everyone peered into the box. “Well?” demanded Rainbow Dash. “Is it treasure?”

“I’m not too sure.” Applejack pulled out a ornate belt and a plastic black case as Big Mac and Apple Bloom opened up a letter.

“What is the next stop? The past or the future?” said Big Mac, reading off the letter’s simple phrase.

Apple Bloom pulled out the third item and her expression went puzzled. “A… pudding cup? Eeew, it must be all rotted by now!”

“Lemme see that!” Exclaimed Pinkie, plucking the pudding cup from the girl’s hand. “Nope, it’s good!”

“Why a belt, a train pass, a letter and a pudding cup?” asked Sunset. “What’s the connection?”

Suddenly, from far away and everywhere at the same time, a train whistle could be heard as a train appeared through a rainbow bridge of light. It zoomed past the group, as a large red demon thing yelled, “THIEF! That’s my pudding! You damnable DiEnd, back, back, back it up!”

“What the…?” Exclaimed Rarity, staring as with everyone.

“That’s my pudding!” Exclaimed the red demon thing, shaking a hand at the food. “It’s been missing for ten years!” Then he noticed the belt in Applejack’s hand and screamed, “AH! It’s you! Den-O! Guys, guys, I found the new Den-O!”

The group looked at each other, moments before a bear monster, a dragon monster and a turtle monster escorted them all onto the train in a flurry of motion, some bodily carried away. Minutes later, the train whistled and pulled out.

At the door of the school, Grand Pear and Granny Smith sighed. “There they go,” said Grand Pear. “On the trip of a lifetime.”

“They’ll be fine you old coot,” said Granny, but there was no heat to it. “They’re our grandchildren after all. A long line… of Den-O awaits them all.”

“I just wish… well, enough for wishes. Wishing is what got us into this mess in the first place.” said Grand Pear. “C’mon Granny, let’s get lunch.”

As the pair headed into the building, Diamond Tiara passed by. “What a boring day,” said Diamond Tiara, looking into the sky. “They still haven’t fixed the statue base? They should probably charge Sunset Shimmer for that.” She sighed. “But that’s not Sunset’s fault at all. And Apple Bloom isn’t even rising to my taunts anymore… I don’t see the point of it all right now.”

She groaned as a orb of light floated down overhead. “Stupid mom, forcing me to be the top dog. Why can’t she see I want something more? And dad’s obsessing over his land projects…” She leaned against the statue, mindful not to lean against the open door. “This sucks.”

In that moment, the orb of light struck into her back and sand poured from her body. As she leaned against the portal, a voice intoned, “Tell me your wish and I will grant it. I just require one thing in return…”

“Honestly?” said Diamond Tiara, not really paying attention to the voice. “I just want what Apple Bloom has: family who care.”

“Contract Accepted. I will find you family who care.” And from the pile of sand on the other side of the statue, a wicked looking bat monster materialized. “Time to hunt for “family”.”

Spreading it’s wings, it took off into the sky.

=====

Apple Bloom hadn’t stopped staring at the monsters, and neither did the monsters. “Boo,” intoned the purple one and she stumbled. “Yay, I won!”

“Okay, this is the oddest thing I’ve ever experienced,” said Applejack.

“Yup,” replied Big Mac.

Pinkie Pie slurped the coffee she was served and she let out a whoop. “MAN that’s good!” Exclaimed Pinkie loudly. “Another please!”

“We got way too many,” said the turtle monster as the red oni fidgeted with a toy. “Senpai…”

“Stupid turtle,” grumbled the red oni. “I just got excited.”

“Not that I don’t mind a train ride, but where are we?” asked Rarity. “You’re scaring Fluttershy!”

“Actually I think they’re fascinating and scary,” said Fluttershy with a squeak as the burly yellow bear snored in the seat opposite them.

“You should probably start talking,” said Rainbow Dash. “Before we all decide to bust our superpowers out.”

“Now now, now is not the time to get into a fight my lady,” said the turtle charmingly towards Rainbow Dash who made a face. “Oh! Did I strike a nerve? I’m sorry, I truly am. I was trying to be friendly for the sake of our trainmates.”

“Well uh…” said Rainbow, stammering.

“Okay, I think that’s enough everyone,” said Twilight and Sunset nodded.

“Yeah, we need to know what’s going on?” said Sunset. “Are you guys the reason why I’ve felt so uneasy?”

“Not quite,” said a slow, ponderous voice from the door as the monsters stiffened. A man dressed in an impeccable brown suit appeared at the door, cane in hand. “You are all passengers on the Train of Time, DenLiner.”

“The Train of Time, DenLiner?” echoed everyone.

“Yes.” said the man as he sat down in the corner across from a large plate of fried rice set before him. “DenLiner.” Brandishing a spoon, he cut into the food. “You see… every world is like a tree branch, every time distinct in itself. Some worlds, DenLiner may be steward to the Nogami family. Some other worlds, to others. In this world, we are Contracted to the Apples.”

“Specifically the three of you right now,” said the red oni. “I’m Momotaros. The pervert turtle is Urataros, the bear is Kintaros and the brat is Ryuutaros.”

“What’s so special about us?” asked Apple Bloom. “We’re just Apples.”

“All Apples are Singularity Points.” said Kintaros, speaking for the first time. “To your grandparents we were contracted to, and to your parents and now to you three. With our power, you can become Den-O, the Rider of Time.”

“Wait, but where does that leave Pinkie? She’s a cousin,” said Applejack, as she turned towards Pinkie.

“The Pie family are contracted to another. We will be meeting him shortly.” said the man.

“It’ll be good to see Deneb again, eh Owner?” said Momotaros.

“Indeed.” A lower train whistle could be heard as he looked up. “There he is now.”

From a nearby moving train, a large figure leaped into the door of the moving DenLiner from the ZeroLiner. “Greetings,” said the large man with a mask for a face, bowing low. “I am Deneb. Ah, you must be my Contract Holder! Have some Deneb Candy!” Exclaimed Deneb, holding out the basket of candy.

“Okay, he’s totally cool in my book,” said Pinkie instantly, taking some candy.

“That’s all well and good, but where does that leave us?” asked Rainbow Dash. “We’ve got powers too.”

“Your aid has been unprecedented,” said Owner. “I will issue you all Rider Passes for the time being. Den-O has always been a family matter, but with your aid, you will keep time alive.”

“But how?” asked Fluttershy.

“Memory,” said Owner. “People’s memories don’t change. And memory makes up time. In fact, there might be someone in need right now.”

Momotaros stiffened. “Imagin.”

“Ah don’t know much about being a Den-O or whatever,” said Applejack. “But I won’t let anyone threaten my family.”

“Applejack,” said Big Mac suddenly. “Maybe I should do this.”

She turned to her brother, eyebrow upraised. “Why?”

“You have powers already, I don’t. Apple Bloom’s too young,” said Big Mac, earning a “hey” from Apple Bloom. “I just want to be useful.”

“Don’t worry too much about it,” said Urataros, bringing attention to himself. “Everyone in the Apple or Pie family can use the time powers of Den-O. Just keep the belt handy.”

“This thing?” asked Applejack, holding it up.

“That thing. So c’mon, let’s go bust some heads!” Exclaimed Momotaros as he held out his hand to Applejack.

=====

Cup Cake was certain that this monster was gathering people, the way it had kidnapped every parent in the area. “Family who cares, I made the wish come true,” said the Bat Imagin as he held Diamond Tiara in his hands. “Now… open up your memory to me.”

“Hold it!” Exclaimed Applejack as the train came to a stop and everyone piled out. “You’ve got some nerve kidnapping these folks.”

“Huh... “ said the Bat Imagin. “Why? I don’t think it’s a bad thing. She made the wish, I’m filling it.”

“That’s where you’re wrong,” said Applejack as her friends moved to get the civilians away. She held up the belt and wrapped it around her middle in a swift motion. “Momotaros!”

Cup Cake looked up at the name, and she gasped. “It’s like Buttercup all over again,” she murmured as Applejack’s hair flared with red in it.

“Listen up,” said Applejack, her voice rougher and more masculine in timber. “I don’t do warning shots. From start to finish, I’m at a climax.”

“Hmph,” said the Bat Imagin as his grip on Diamond Tiara tightened. “Bring it.”

“Transform,” said Applejack, pressing a button as a chime resounded. Throwing her arm across her middle, a suit formed with red highlights. “I have arrived!”

“She’s not the only one here,” said a voice as a fishing hook lanced out and pulled Diamond Tiara away. A smirking Apple Bloom reeled her classmate in. “Whoops, sorry there,” said Apple Bloom, a streak of blue in her long hair as she wore glasses. “I didn’t mean to be so rough my lady. Shall we get dinner later?”

Diamond Tiara sputtered. “W-well…”

“Hey, no flirting on the prefight banter!” Shouted Den-O Sword as Apple Bloom let go of Diamond Tiara and adjusted her own belt.

“Later,” said Apple Bloom, winking at Diamond Tiara as she lazily swiped her belt. “Transform.”

A suit of blue appeared, forming instantly as she shouldered a large rod. “May I reel you in?”

“Two Den-O?” demanded the Bat Imagin. “Oh how sad I might cry!”

“Cry? CRY? My strength will make you cry!” The third appearance of Big Mac with a bright gold stripe in his darker hair as he took a sumo pose. “Transform!”

“So three for three,” said the Bat Imagin as the three Apple’s encircled him. “But still green.”

“Four actually!” Exclaimed Pinkie from the roof of ZeroLiner which managed to sneak up on the Imagin who whirled in surprise, seconds before the bull train headbutted it into a tree. “Sorry I’m late! Transform!”

Her body shifting into a green and gold form with black accents, she proclaimed, “Don’t look now but we’re really strong!”

“Well crap,” said the Bat Imagin seconds before a flurry of athletic violence descended upon him.

=====

“Everyone was rescued, the Imagin was defeated before it flew to the past, all’s well that ends well with three Den-O and a Zeronos.” said Sunset. “Now if only the sense of impending doom didn’t lift I’d be happy.”

“Well, for now we’ll have to patrol the area for trouble,” said Applejack as she entered the Sweet Shoppe. “C’mon, don’t worry Sunset!”

“I won’t. We’re in good hands. Oh hi Mrs. Cake.” said Sunset as the owner approached the pair with a bundle in her hands.

“Applejack, dear, I’d like to give you this.” said Cup Cake. “Your mother wore it when she was your age. I think she’d be happy you have it too. On her adventures I mean.”

“You knew ma?” asked Applejack, taking the package and finding a coat that draped over her shoulders. “It fits…”

“She wanted to give it to you when you were old enough, and assumed the mantle of Den-O. Your mother and I had some adventures, and your father too. I guess the family’s just blessed with adventure.” said Cup with a smile.

“Thanks Mrs. Cake. I’ll wear it forever.” said Applejack, tightening the jacket over her shoulders.

“I’m happy for you Applejack,” said Sunset with a smile. “You’ve got a bright future ahead of you.”

“Yeah, yeah I do.” said Applejack with a nod. “But I won’t have it without my friends.” Slinging a arm around Sunset’s shoulder, she grinned at her. “C’mon, let’s go get those drinks with the girls.”


	11. Variation 10: Tag It's Mr Smoothie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anon-A-Miss made Sunset hit rock bottom. But there's nowhere else to go but up.

Sunset Shimmer had experienced rock bottom before. It wasn’t a uncommon thing, but this one really got to her. With the nasty rumors going around with Anon-a-Miss, she had been slowly recovering from the dirty looks that had resumed status quo in the school. Once, she would have reveled in them. Now, she faintly felt ill.

The situation had been resolved, and Sunset shrugged on her coat and decided to go for a walk. It was still snowing that day, and she needed to clear her head.

Stepping out into the cold snow, she felt it crunch under her boots as gentle fat snowflakes fell. It was getting closer to Christmas, a fact that had been weighing on her for a while. The Christmas Spirit hadn’t been a huge factor in the recent weeks, and even with her friends recovering from how they treated her, Sunset let her mind drift.

Wandering around town, she paused at a large open space, bordered between two walls that were standing free. This used to be a skate park, she reflected, as she went over and picked up an abandoned spray can.

Sunset was a habitual tagger, drawing on the side of buildings. Fortunately, she had never been caught, and people appreciated the heart she put into her work. Shaking the can, she started to draw.

As she drew, time seemed to fly at periods of thought, before slowing down and drawing some more. Her art was everything to her, she did it when she was happy, when she was sad, and when she was reflective.

So engrossed in the work, she didn’t notice the guy standing behind her, observing her work before she turned around and startled. “Oh, you saw that huh?” said Sunset.

He wasn’t a tall guy, about her height with pale skin and dark brown hair and green eyes. He looked casual enough, dressed in a green jacket and jeans, with sneakers that ill fitted the weather. “Hey don’t let me stop you,” said the teenager. “I would have done the same.”

Sunset had to smile at that as she resumed her work. It was taking shape, something along the lines of a decorative mural than a drawing this time. “So, what brings you out into the middle of CanterlotCity?” she asked.

”Oh not much,” replied the teenager as he walked up and picked up another can. “Just finished saving the world. Although I don’t think it took.”

Sunset raised a eyebrow at the way he moved, not quite an artist but he seemed attentive to what he was doing, matching his movements with hers. “Really?” she asked, curious.

“Really,” he replied, spraying an arc. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

”Try me. I’ve seen things,” said Sunset as she continued to work.

“Well… basically, an eldritch old god was trying to devour the universe. He offered one chance to defeat him, and I took it. I made certain that I remembered everything, but here we are.” He swept his arm along the arc, adding the edge of the pale green rainbow against Sunset’s own matching one. “Boy was I in for a surprise.”

”Sounds difficult. I haven’t saved the world yet, or I’d be more stressed out all the time.” Said Sunset.

“It is, was anyhow. None of it applies now to this world,” replied the teen as he continued to work, his eyes looking tired and old. “I think what happened is that reality got rewritten, something slipped when I thought up the new world. I guess I’m the only one who remembers it. Gwen’s pink now, Kevin’s blue. Me? I’m the same old pale peach Ben Tennyson.”

“I can imagine it was hard,” said Sunset, lowering her arm to look at Ben. “How do you go on?”

”Go on after I retconned the universe? Same as always. I keep going.” Said Ben with a tired smile. “If I mess up, people die. Turning blue or purple? That’s on me. I’m gonna just deal with the world as it comes along. And if it needs saving again? I’m their man.”

”Well don’t let me stop you then Ben,” said Sunset. “I’m Sunset by the way.”

”Nice to meet you, I’m Ben,” said Ben with a matching smile. He finished his drawing and said, “Wanna get a Mr Smoothie? I came here to this city to try out the location.”

”Where are you from anyhow?” asked Sunset curiously. “And in the middle of a snowfall?”

”I travel a lot,” replied Ben. “Part of the job description. And I’m from Bellwood.”

“Wow, that’s pretty far from here. All this for a Mr. Smoothie?” asked Sunset as she dusted her hands of dried paint.

“There’s one constant in this world, Sunset: and that’s Mr. Smoothie.” Said Ben with a light grin. “C’mon, let’s go get one.”

She smiled, laughing. “All right, but it’s on you.”

”No problem!” Said Ben, grinning.

Sometimes, Sunset reflected as she walked down the road with her new friend, rock bottom could be a good thing. It means you have nowhere to go, but up.


End file.
